


A Clean Slate

by APhoenixDown



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Miscommunication, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-04-27 00:38:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14413905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/APhoenixDown/pseuds/APhoenixDown
Summary: Aria and Sebastian were best friends from the first time Aria had visited her grandfather's farm many hot summers ago. However as the two grow up and begin to grow apart, this new widening gap between them puts a test to their relationship, a test that acts as the knife to sever them. One fight leads to the end of their friendship, but four years apart may serve as just the medicine they need to wake up from their misunderstandings. When Aria returns to the valley as an adult on her own, their relationship will be put to the test a second time.





	1. Lost

Wake up.

Work.

Rinse.

Repeat.

That's all Aria's life was anymore. Not that she had any right to complain. This is what she had asked for after all: an easy way into the workforce. No time spent worrying over what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. No money thrown away on classes she didn’t care to take in the first place. No hunting for a job four years after graduating only to end up doing something that had nothing to do with her degree. No stress. All she had to do was take her uncle’s connection and she had been practically handed the job, no college or previous experience required.

It was kind of gross to think about, really. There were people spending thousands of dollars going to school to land a job like hers and she hadn’t done anything to earn it. She supposed that’s the way things were in the adult world though. Stick your nose up the right ass and you could have practically anything you wanted.

 _But I never wanted this,_ she thought to herself. She only took the job because she thought it was expected of her. Her mother had worked almost every day of her life to take care of two kids by herself, so how could Aria turn the offer down? If she had a job right out of high school she wouldn’t have to ask her mom to help pay for college, and making her own money meant she could get her own place and let her mom just worry about her own living expenses. It seemed like a brainless decision to make. All she had to do was say yes.

Just wake up.

Work.

Rinse.

Repeat.

The sound of clicking keyboards filled the room around her. An office filled with too many faces to remember and too many names to care about all typed mindlessly away at their computers. Joja Corporation was a well oiled machine made up of people just like Aria. People who didn’t care what type of work they did as long as it paid the bills.

_But I do care._

She stared blankly at her screen, praying for the day to end soon. All she could hear was clicking from every direction.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Click.

“Get back to work,” she heard from somewhere. She knew it was aimed at her but she couldn’t bring herself to listen. Not over the sounds of all of the mindless clicking. Not when she knew that if she stayed here a moment longer she’d surely go mad. So she ignored the voice, and pulled open the top drawer of her desk, the voice still hanging over her telling her to do her job and asking why she wasn’t listening. She didn’t care to listen. She couldn’t anymore. From her drawer, she pulled out a single white envelope and turned it over in her hand. Her name was scrawled out in cursive writing that was all too familiar. She allowed herself a moment of heartache before opening the envelope to find a letter written in the same penmanship she had always loved seeing so much.

_Dear Aria,_

_If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change._

_The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in my life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I really belonged._

She could already feel her eyes becoming moist as she flipped over the letter.

_I’ve enclosed the deed to that place… My pride and joy: Caro Farm. It’s located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start your new life._

__

_This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honor the family name my girl. Good luck._

_Love,_  
_Grandpa_

_P.S. If Lewis is still alive say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?_

She held the letter tight in her hands as she stood and looked around her. The office was cramped with as many cubicles as fire laws would allow, and at each cubicle was a face that appeared more miserable than the one next to them. The lights were dim, there were no windows, and there were no decorations save for the large print on the walls that read, “Life’s better with Joja.”

_Not for me._

She turned to face the voice that been calling out to her and told him in a flat tone, “I quit.”

And with that final statement she left, mind set on the only place she knew she could truly be happy: Stardew Valley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read this first chapter. Sorry this first one is so short, but I didn't want to drag this beginning scene on forever, and I'm already writing the third chapter by this point (don't worry the other chapters will be longer.) This is my first work of fan fiction so thank you again for anyone who reads through it or continues reading after this chapter. Comments and critiques are welcomes and appreciated!


	2. Press Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria gets to work on farming and Abigail gets to work on something else

The bus ride into Stardew Valley was exactly like she remembered it: rolling green hills and blue skies as far as the eye could see. She enjoyed the ride with the window of the bus pulled down, letting the breeze flow in and tossle her hair around her face. How long had it been since she’d smelled air as fresh as this, or seen land so open? She knew the answer to that question, though she didn’t want to admit it. She had traded those things away four years ago for a high rise apartment and a salary. Everything she had come to love in the valley she had left behind, from the places she had explored as a child to the relationships she had built. She had thrown it all away in one fell swoop, and left no trace of herself.

As the bus pulled to a stop and she departed, she made herself a promise. She would move into her grandfather’s old house for good this time, not just for a few months in the summer like she did when she was little. She would rebuild the farm no matter what it took.

Which apparently, looking at it now as she stood in front of it, was a lot. Her grandfather’s old home sat at the edge of the farm where you entered from. It was a lot smaller than she remembered it, and she couldn’t quite recall the front porch looking so beat up. There were enough trees scattered across the land that she almost wasn’t sure there had ever been crops there in the first place. She began to wonder if the inside of the old house was as beat up as the outside, but before she could take her first step towards it she was wrapped in a tight hug from behind that made her practically jump out of her skin.

A warm, familiar voice greeted her along with the hug she hadn’t been expecting, “Aria! It’s been so long! How have you been?” The woman spun her around to face her and held her by the shoulders while looking her up and down. “You look great!”

It was Robin who had greeted her so eagerly. She was the local carpenter, a pretty red-headed woman with the strongest work ethic in the valley and a personality to match. Apparently when she was younger and had told her parents she wanted to be a carpenter, they had pretty much laughed in her face, but she saved up enough money to move out to Stardew Valley and open her own shop. Aria envied her in a way. She was able to speak her mind and work hard for what she knew she wanted in life, something that Aria had never had the guts to do. Even now, standing on the farm that she had literally quit her job for just the day before, she had no idea how she was going to make it work.

Aria smiled sheepishly and replied, “It’s nice to see you too, Robin.”

“We’ll have to catch up later, but for right now I’m sure you’re worried about the state of this place,” she said, motioning to the field that was no longer a field but a forest. “I’m sure with a little dedication you’ll have it cleaned up in no time!”

Dedication was the thing she was most worried about. She had never liked her high school classes, didn’t join any clubs, never went to college, and absolutely hated every moment she had spent at Joja. So far all of her professional life had been a complete disappointment and failure. How could she know if she could really handle the farm, or if she would even like it for that matter? She had no experience outside of the job she had been handed, so she had no clue what type of work she would be interested in. Could she be dedicated to something she was so unsure of?

Aria had several concerns that she was ready to vocalize but before she could, the mayor, Lewis stepped out of her grandfather’s home. He wore a smile on his face as he walked down the weathered steps of the porch. “Ah, Anthony’s grandaughter, the new farmer,” her greeted Aria. “Everyone’s been asking about you already you know, word travels fast.” He took a look back at the house as he continued, “So you’re moving into your grandfather’s old cottage… it’s a good house, very rustic.”

“Crusty’s more like it,” Robin snickered.

Lewis rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Aria. “Don’t listen to her Aria, she just wants you to buy one of her house upgrades.” Robin glared daggers at him but he paid her no attention. “Anway, you’re probably tired from your trip and want to unpack. I’ll leave you to it, but tomorrow you should go say hello to everyone and let them know you’re back. I’m sure everyone will be happy to see you.”

With a final nod of his head as a goodbye, Lewis took his leave. Robin, however, stayed and took this opportunity to chat a bit more. “Sooo,” she began, and Aria already knew where this was going. “Did you tell Sebastian you’re back yet?”

Just hearing the name sent a slight pang through Aria’s heart. She knew she was going to have to have this conversation eventually, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. 

“No,” she replied honestly. “I really haven’t told anyone other than Abby that I’m moving in.” It was the truth, so she shouldn’t feel bad, and yet she did for not telling Sebastian’s mom about what had happened between the two of them. Robin had, after all, had Aria over her house many times when she was a kid. Aria used to visit them all the time when she stayed with her grandfather so she could hang out with Sebastian. They used to stay outside catching frogs in the pond next to Robin’s house until it got dark out and she would call them in for dinner. She would make the world’s most amazing pumpkin soup, and they would all eat together and talk until Aria’s grandfather came to pick her up after a long day on the farm.

“Well, you should stop by tomorrow while you’re saying hello to everyone. I’m sure he’s gonna be thrilled to have you back in town.”

“Yeah… I’m sure.”

“Okay, I’d better get back home now before it gets too late. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, Robin.”

Robin waved goodbye and began to head home, leaving Aria to herself and her new home. Her new home, she remembered, that she hadn’t yet seen the inside of. After one last glance across her new property, she took the steps up her front porch and opened the door to the old house for the first time in four years. 

The floor creaked when she stepped inside, and a thin layer of dust had settled over the small amount of furniture that was left. There was a single sized bed with a nightstand, a dining room table with two chairs, (the same set she used to eat breakfast with her grandfather at) a fireplace that kept the place heated during the winter, and an old tube television. That television was going to have to be one of the first things to get replaced. There was no way she was hooking up her game station to that thing. Other than that, she thought, the place was quite lovely. It was small, sure, but it was the place she had spent entire summers throughout her childhood, and it felt more like home than her apartment in Zuzu had ever felt. And in no time, she was sure, her personal touches would make it feel like the home she had always wanted.

But first, she decided, she needed to dust.

* * *

The next day Aria woke up way too late to be considered a on farmer’s schedule. She had gotten a little carried away the night before with the cleaning, unpacking, and decorating, but by the time she went to bed she could proudly say that she was completely moved in. However, adjusting to waking up at 5am was going to be problematic no matter what time she went to bed. She was determined to make the most of her day though, so she took the parsnip seeds that Lewis had left in her house as a welcome gift and set outside to get to work.  
She spent the better part of her “morning” pulling weeds and preparing a small area of soil to plant the parsnips. Though she had helped her grandfather on the farm when she was young, this was the first time she was doing any of it entirely on her own, so it was going to take her some time to learn how to properly care for her crops. She wondered if anyone in the village would be able to give her some tips.

Aria worked hard that morning, and by the time she was done planting her first batch of seeds, it was already afternoon and she was a sweating mess. If she was being honest with herself, she was a little disappointed that she didn’t have the stamina to do more, but she quickly reminded herself that she had been sitting stationary at an office desk for the past four years of her life. She would just have to build up some muscle while she worked, or she was going to be in big trouble.

In the meantime, she decided, it was time for a shower. She headed back inside and entered her small bathroom, peeling off her work clothes and letting down her long dark hair from the bun she had stuffed it in that morning. She stepped into her shower and scrubbed herself down, appreciating the way the water felt after her first morning of farm work.

After finishing her shower, she got dressed in one of her regular outfits: a pair of black leggings, t-shirt, and combat boots, and put on a small amount of makeup. She wanted to look decent when she went into town and greeted everyone, and not like she just spent the whole morning struggling to plant such a small amount of crops.

Satisfied with the way she looked after studying herself in the mirror, she locked up her house and headed out into town. The first place of business was to see her best friend and only person she had kept in contact with after moving to Zuzu City, Abigail. This was perfect because she could pick up some more seeds from Pierre’s while she was visiting.

She exited the farm to the right and made her way into the town square in no time at all. She entered Pierre’s shop with a smile on her face and waved to Pierre who was standing behind the counter.

“Aria! Is that you?” He asked, surprised. She couldn’t blame him, she hadn’t seen anyone from the valley in such a long time.

“Yep, it’s me,” she replied. “I’m taking over my grandfather’s farm, so I just moved in yesterday. I wanted to stop by and buy some seeds from you, and also pick your brain a bit.”

“Always happy to have a new customer, pick away.”

Aria told him that she didn’t know much about plants and asked for any advice he could give, to which he was happy to help her. He gave her a rough rundown of which seeds she could plant in each season, and a few additional tips that he had learned over the years by talking to her grandfather. It was an extremely helpful conversation, and she was glad she had decided to ask him. She was sure she would have killed all of her parsnips otherwise.

“Thank you so much, Pierre,” she said sincerely. “By the way, where’s Abby?”

“She’s in her room. I think she’s just playing a game so I’m sure you can head on in.”

Aria nodded and did just that, grinning from ear to ear at the sight of her best friend sitting cross legged on a pillow on her floor, face merely inches away from the screen.

_Some things never change._

Aria quietly made her way over to her and sat cross legged on the floor next to her, drawing her attention. “Hey there Abbs,” she casually greeted with a grin.  
“Ari!” She practically shouted, dropping her controller to throw her arms around her. “Oh my yoba, you really did move back!”

“Yep, here I am.”

“I’m so glad.” Her face was sincere, and Aria’s heart fluttered a bit. It had been so long since anyone had seemed so genuinely happy to see her. She had never really made any close friends during her time in Zuzu City. She had tried, but any acquaintances she had had seemed to come and go like the seasons, nothing like folks she knew in the valley. Everyone seemed so close here, and even though she had never been a full resident of the valley before, and then she had left for so long, she knew that the people here would do more for her than any of the people she had worked so closely at Joja would ever even consider. It was a good feeling, seeing the faces light up of all the villagers who saw her. She felt wanted, like she had always belonged here but never realized it. It felt like home.

“Here,” Abigail said, handing Aria a controller that matched hers, “You’ve gotta help me with this level.”

“Are you playing Journey of the Prairie King?”

“Yes, and it’s really hard. Please help,” she begged with a pout.

“Alright, alright, how could I say no to that face?”

“Yay!” She exclaimed as she restarted the level for two players, cause Aria to laugh lightly.

The game started up on a familiar screen with the two of them each controlling a small pixel cowboy shooting at monsters that came out of each direction of the screen. Aria cruised through it, playing it safe until there was a large horde of monsters and then releasing her power ups at just the right moment to take out as many of the enemies at once as possible. It was a pretty standard strategy, but effective nonetheless, and soon they made it through the level with ease.

“Wow, I really missed you. You really know your way around a joystick, huh?” Abigail commented.

Aria eyed the purple haired girl suspiciously. “Is that supposed to be some type of innuendo?”

“Only if you want it to be,” she joked with a wink. “But no, really, you’re good at this game.”

“Thanks, it’s not too hard in the earlier levels once you get the strategy.” She set the controller down and continued in a quieter voice, “Sebastian and I used to play this all the time.”

Abigail immediately picked up on Aria’s change of tone and set her own controller down as well. She faced her friend with a look of concern and asked, “Is everything okay?”

Aria snapped back to attention at the sound of her concern. The last thing she wanted to to was make Abigail worry over a dead relationship. “Oh yeah, it’s no big deal. To be honest, we got in a pretty big fight right before I left for Zuzu. We didn’t really talk at all once I was gone, and I don’t know… I guess we’re not really friends anymore.” She looked at Abigail with trust in her eyes.

To Aria’s confusion, the violet headed girl’s face lit up. Another moment of that and Aria frowned. She knew that face. That wasn’t a good face. “Whatever you’re thinking” Aria warned with a stern look in her eyes, “Don’t.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Abigail replied innocently. Contrasting her innocent tone however, she wore the devil’s smile as she reached out for her phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My new kitten tried to help type this chapter, but unfortunately I had to remove his writing. It didn't quite fit the plot.


	3. Reclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian goes to Sam to blow of some steam, and Abigail lets Sam in on her little plan

Dark eyes flickered back and forth behind the glow of a brightly lit computer screen. Hands flew across a worn down keyboard, typing as quickly as fingers could find their marks. Lines of code filled the screen in front of him, but every time he ran a test it came out the same. 

Errors. Errors everywhere.

Sebastian let out a deep sigh and leaned back in his desk chair. The darkness of his basement room perfectly reflected the darkness of his mood. That is, until his bedroom door flew open without warning and light poured in from the top of the stairs. He resisted the urge to cover his eyes with his arms and fly under the bed in the corner of the room like a vampire bat. He did squint a bit, however.

“Sebastian?” Robin’s voice called from upstairs.

He sighed again. At least it wasn’t Demetrius. “What, mom?” It was hard to hide the annoyance in his voice. It carried up to Robin’s ears and made her visibly flinch. He almost immediately regretted it. Not that he would tell her that.

“I just wanted to check and see how you were doing. You didn’t come up for dinner so I thought you might be hungry.”

“No thanks,” whas his monotoned answer as he continued to try and figure out what the problem was with his work.

Another wave of silence washed over the room for a moment, allowing his shoulders that he had unknowingly tightened to relax a bit. He didn’t know why he always reacted this way. He knew his mother meant no harm by it. Was it the mere idea that it could have been his step father throwing open his door? Or maybe that no one respected his request that he had made over and over again, to simply knock on his door before they came barging in. It seemed like a pretty normal thing to want to him, and yet no one in his family could seem to comprehend it. What made it even worse was that he was giving his mother rent to stay here. She had never asked him to but he did it anyway, feeling guilty that he still had to live with his mom at his age. So why, when his room was practically his own place, did everyone insist on treating it like no one lived in it. It was beyond his comprehension. Yet still, he knew his mother was only trying to look out for him. 

Another sigh.

If he could just get this coding right, could just get more freelance work and make some more money, then he could leave this awful valley and head out for Zuzu city. That dream felt an eternity away, and even farther away when everyone kept interrupting his work.

“Oh!” His mother suddenly piped up, causing him to look up from his screen at her. “You’ll never guess who I saw yesterday.” She stood with her shoulders raised in excitement, a big smile planted on her face. Whoever this person was, she must genuinely like them for her to be so excited she wanted to tell her recluse of a son about it.

Seeing the joy in her eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to ask her to leave and push her away. So he took the bait. “Who?”

“Aria!” She beamed at him.

His heart stopped.

“She’s taking over her grandfather’s farm! Isn’t that great? No one’s touched it in so long, and it’s such a mess, but I’m sure with some proper loving from her and a little help from my carpentry skills, she’ll have it up and running in no time!” She rambled on without barely taking a breath in between, “And I know you two have to be dying to see each other, it’s been so long after all. That reminds me, the mayor told her to say hello to everyone today, I wonder if she’s going to stop by. Maybe I should make dinner, I wonder what she likes now…”

Her rambling continued, but Sebastian had completely stopped listening. Aria was back in town? And she was coming _here?_

_What the fuck am I supposed to say to her?_

His brain was running at a million miles a minute, so fast he felt like he could short circuit at a moments notice. Soon there would be smoke pouring out of his ears and sparks flying from his gaping mouth.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, it had registered that mother had stopped talking. She looked at him with genuine concern. “Sebastian, are you okay?”

No, he was not okay. In fact he was almost positive that he had never been less okay.

“I’m gonna head out for a bit,” somehow tumbled its way out of his mouth. He felt himself stand up, though he didn’t really feel is if he had done it on his own. It was almost as if his body was moving on by itself, forcing him to go anywhere but here.

_Sam’s. I can go to Sam’s._

He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he thought it, pulling up Sam’s contact information. He made his way up the stairs that his mother was blocking the top of.

“Where are you going?” She asked with genuine concern.

“Sam’s,” he replied flatly, lightly pushing past her.

“But what if Aria stops by while she’s gone?”

“Tell her I stepped out for a bit.” Without giving further instruction, he made a beeline for the front door, managing to avoid both his sister and step father in the process.

His mind raced the entire walk to Sam’s, until finally, he pounded on the door. He heard a shuffling on the other side and impatiently waited for Sam to open the door. When he finally did, Sebastian shoved his way inside and walked straight towards Sam’s bedroom, barely paying any attention to the “hello” that came from Sam’s mother as he walked past.

Sam looked towards her and they both shrugged, waving it off as another one of Sebastian’s moods. He followed his brooding friend to his bedroom without further interaction with his mom and closed the door behind them.

“Sooooo,” Sam started, watching as Sebastian did a full belly flop onto the bed. “Do you wanna talk about it errrr…?”

“No,” came the muffled reply from a face full of blanket.

“Okay, we ignore that then. Instead, wanna check out this new song I’ve been working on?” He began shuffling around in one of his drawers before producing a notebook and handing it to Sebastian. “It’s a little different than the type of shit we normally do, but I think it could be pretty good once you and Abs give it a tweak or two.”

Sebastian took the notebook from him and flipped onto his back, holding it in the air with arms outstretched ahead of him. He started off only half reading it, but as he continued he found himself playing out the notes in his head and his fingers soon tapped along as well. He sat up and tossed his legs over the side of the bed, notebook still in hand, and stood up to wander over to the keyboard he always left at Sam’s for jam sessions.

To Sam’s glee, Sebastian’s long fingers began to tentatively dance across the keys, filling the room with a soft sound. Taking that as his queue, Sam picked up his guitar and joined in. Though Sam was much more practiced in this song than Sebastian, the dark haired male managed to keep up just fine, throwing his own spin on the arrangement wherever he saw fit.

It just as good as Sam had imagined, and he knew once Abigail was one drums, it would be even better. He wondered if she’d be able to come over if he called, and just as he thought it, his phone began to buzz in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at the caller ID, letting out whistle. “ _Think_ of the devil. It’s Abs.”

“Go ahead and answer it, I’m gonna go take a quick smoke,” Sebastian replied, standing up.

Sam nodded and held the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”

Sebastian stepped out, hearing a “WHAT!?” from behind him, and almost decided to stick around to see what was happening. He decided against it though, and continued his walk outside. He made his stop leaned against a tree next to the river that flowed in front of Sam’s house and pulled out his cigarettes. Putting one between his lips and lighting it, he stared into the water as it peacefully flowed downstream.

It felt like almost yesterday that the four of them used to play out here, though he knew that to be way off the mark. They had all still been children then, and Aria had still only been visiting her grandfather at the time. He remembered one particular occasion when Aria had taken her grandfather’s fishing rod in promise of teaching them all how to fish. Abigail had wanted to learn so badly that she became fiercely competitive, but when all she could reel in was seaweed and the occasional Jojacola can, she started crying. Aria had tried comforting her, telling her that she’d catch her the biggest fish in the river for what it had done to her. It took nearly the entire day, but Aria finally got a bite and when she tried to reel it in, she almost went flying into the river after it. Sebastian had caught her by the waist at just the last second, and soon Sam and Abigail were helping to reel it in as well. It took all four of them, put they had managed to catch it all by themselves. As it turned out, the fish they caught was extremely small, but they had all been so excited about it that they ran it inside to Sam’s mom and begged her to cook it for dinner. Which she did, though they each only got a bite out of it.

Sebastian could feel the corner of his lips pulling upwards, so he stubbed out the rest of his cigarette and went back inside to see what was going on with Sam’s phone call. When he got back to Sam’s room, the blond was sitting on his bed, grinning and tapping away at his phone like an idiot.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Sebastian questioned him, suspicion apparent in his tone.

“What’s got you in such a bad one?” Sam hummed back.

“I’m always like this and you know it,” he shot back. “Now what’s going on? You’re smiling like an idiot.”

“ _You_ know _I’m_ always like this,” Sam copied.

“Whatever dude, you’re acting like a freak.” He said it like it was a bad thing, but he couldn’t help but grin back at his friend’s positive mood. Leave it to Sam to give Sebastian’s outlook on this whole day a complete one eighty, and he didn’t even have to do anything. “Anyway Sam, I’ve still got more work to do that’s due tomorrow, so I’m gonna head home. Tell Abby about that song.”

“Will do, good luck with your nerd stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved and left the house for the final time that day, beginning his treck home through town.

The town square had emptied, and he saw lights glimmering from inside the Stardrop. It had gotten late since he left, he noticed, and couldn’t help but wonder if Aria had dropped by while he was gone.

_Maybe seeing her again wouldn’t be so bad._

He shook his head at his annoyingly intrusive thought, but let his eyes glance towards Caro Farm’s direction as he passed by the bus stop. His mom was right earlier, though. It had been quite a while since they’d seen each other. They had barely even sent a text between the two of them since she moved out to Zuzu City.

_Zuzu…_

His mind wandered back to the city for a second time that day, not that it was a strange thought to pass through his mind. He had daydreams about it all the time. Where he would go, things he might see or do, they were all thoughts that often crossed his mind.

_What did Aria do?_

There was that name again. He shook his head for probably the millionth time that day as he climbed up the mountain path that led towards his house. He could see the lights on in the windows, and wondered if his mom was still awake. He stepped up onto the porch and inside the house, taking his shoes off when he got in. He could hear the television in the living room and he poked his head in. Turns out it wasn’t his mother that was still awake, but his half sister Maru.

He decided to take a chance. “Hey, Maru?” He called quietly from just outside the living room, careful not to wake anyone.

She jumped in her seat and snapped her head around to look at him. “Sebastian, you scared me!” She let out a low sigh and straightened her glasses by pushing them up the bridge of her nose.  
“Sorry,” he replied. Although if he was being honest, it was kind of hard not to laugh. “Hey, do you know if Aria stopped by or not?”

Maru tilted her head to the side, a perplexed look on her face. “Aria’s back in town?” She questioned.

That would be a no. He remembered what his mother had said earlier about Aria greeting _everyone_ in town today and felt every last ounce of positivity leave his body. He didn’t even bother giving his sister an answer as he slunk back down towards his basement room where he’d probably stay for the next week and a half.

He just had to get his mind back on work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: All of these chapters are named after songs I like :)


	4. Awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The old gang gets together at the Stardrop Saloon

When Abigail invited Aria out to the Stardrop Saloon that Friday, Aria knew something was up. The problem was, she had no believable reason to turn her down, so here she was being dragged along to the local bar by her purple haired friend. To her surprise, waiting for them at the entrance was Sam, who was just seeing Aria now for the first time since she’d been back. Aria hadn’t exactly done well with her agreement with Lewis to greet everyone in town, but with as small a town as it was, she had assumed she’d run into everyone at one point or another anyway.

Sam, however, she probably should have stopped by to see, because now that he was seeing her in public, he threw his arms around her in the most dramatic fashion she’d ever seen. She felt her face flush as Sam lifted her off the ground and spun her around in a circle for the entire world to see.

“AARIIIIIAAAAA,” he exclaimed in a singsong voice.

Aria pushed against him trying to create any amount of space between the two of them as she breathed out, “Sam, you’re choking me.”

“Oh! Sorry!” Worrying for her safety, he immediately set her down, brushed off her shoulder, and straightened her shirt.

“It’s good to see you too, Sam,” she finally greeted with an honest smile.

“Oh my god I forgot how cute you are when you smile!” And just like that, he was swinging her around again.

“Alright blondy that’s enough,” Abigail laughed. “You’re gonna break her, and I just so happen to be rather fond of her.” Sam set her down once again with a pout and Abigail patted him on the back. “There, there, I know,” she cooed at him.

“I’m not a dog,” he replied, still pouting.

“You sure get excited like one.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved her off with his hand while looking towards Aria again. “Well, you’re gonna have to tell us all about your time in Zuzu, but let’s go in and grab a drink first.”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Aria agreed.

Sam pulled the door to the saloon open and a pleasant music came through the opening. It was a pretty decent sized place considering its location. In the front room there was a long traditional bar with three shelves of liquor and comfortable looking stools, several small tables for people to hang out and eat Gus’s amazing food, a jukebox in one corner of the room, and a fireplace in the opposite corner. The room to the right of that was where Sam, Abigail, and Sebastian spent most of their time when they visited, the game room. It had the standard bar equipment, a pool table, a television, and a few arcade machines.

This was the first time Aria had been inside the saloon, though it felt nostalgic in a way. Aria guessed that was because the furniture all looked like it was made by Robin. Whatever it was, Aria felt comfortable there.

“I’ll get our first round of drinks,” Abigail piped up. “It’ll be a welcome home gift for Ari.”

“Awwww, Abby,” Aria cooed at her with her hands held up to her heart.

“I know, you can thank me later.” Abigail winked at her playfully and made her way over to the bar, leaving Aria alone with Sam for the time being.

“Let’s go grab a seat in the game room,” Sam suggested.

Aria nodded and followed him over there, making herself comfortable on the red sofa across from the pool table. She had never played pool before, though it had always looked fun the way they presented it in movies. She could totally picture Sam being a master at it.

“Do you play?” He asked, noticing her staring at the table.

“Huh? Oh, no. I was just thinking I could see you being good at it.”

Sam let out a short laugh. “No way, Seb always kicks my ass. That doesn’t stop me from trying though.” He flopped down on the couch next to her, leaning back into it right when the bell chimed at the entrance, announcing a new customer. “Speak of the devil.”

A tall, slender figure stood in the doorway. Dark eyes glanced around the room before landing on Aria. They stared in silence. He didn’t make a move towards them, though he didn’t break eye contact either.

_He looks exactly the same._

“Seb, there you are!” She heard Abigail exclaim, forcing their eyes away from each other. Abigail hustled towards him while balancing three drinks in her hands. They splashed around while she walked towards him, though none was dropped.

Aria couldn’t hear the rest of their conversation, though she could tell Sebastian was clearly uncomfortable. She guessed that he’d been informed about this as little as she had and felt a pang of empathy. Neither of them had ever been crazy about socializing, and this awkward situation made it even worse. She could feel her stomach tying itself into knots and knew from the way that he glanced back towards her that he was feeling the same thing.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sebastian let out an audible sigh and took one of the drinks that Abigail was struggling to hold on to. He walked over to where she sat with his best friend, Abigail following closely behind, and outstretched his hand holding the drink towards her when he made it over to them.

“Here,” he mumbled, barely loud enough to hear.

She accepted the drink and let out an equally quiet, “Thanks…”

Another few awkwardly quiet moments passed as Aria twirled the ice around in her glass before Sam finally cut the silence, “Ooookay, who wants to play some pool?”

Sebastian’s mood seemed to flip as he turned to Sam and replied, “What, you ready to get your ass kicked already?”

“Bring it on emo kid!” Sam joked, flexing his nonexistent muscles.

Sebastian grinned back at him, popping a few quarters into the machine which then released the billiard balls with a few clangs. He racked them up with the triangle and the two went at it.

The couch sunk in next to Aria and she glanced over to see that Abigail had sat down beside her. She let out a quiet giggle and said quietly to Aria, _“Boys.”_

Aria smiled back at her and continued twirling the straw around in her drink before finally taking a sip. Rum and coke, she immediately identified, and thanked her friend again for buying her a drink. She sipped on it slowly as she watched Sam and Sebastian’s game play out. As it turned out, Sam was completely right about what he said earlier. Sebastian was killing him at billiards, so much so that it looked less like a game and more like public humiliation. He made curve shots, jump shots, and a few other shots that Aria was pretty sure defied the laws of physics. In no time at all, the game was over, and Sam whimpered his way over to where the girls were sitting.

“Abs, Sebastian was mean to me,” he whined.  
“I was not, I played my best and you lost. You just suck at this,” Sebastian defended.

“See!? There he goes again! Ariiiii!” Sam exclaimed dramatically while flopping down on the couch, back across both girls with his head in Aria’s lap. Abigail was fast to shove Sam off of the two of them and he hit the ground with a loud thud. “Ow!” Sam sat up and rubbed the back of his hair, barely a spike out of place. “I see how it is, you’re all ganging up on me.”

“I bought you a drink, you can’t get upset,” Abigail defended.

“Fine, fine, I’ll get next round but by the time I get back you all better be nice to me,” Sam said while pointing at the three of them. He turned and walked over to the bar, leaving Sebastian in the last position he wanted to be in that night: alone with Aria and her guard Abby. He glanced over at Aria who was staring at anything and everything she could to avoid making eye contact.

“Hey Seb, help me carry these drinks!” Sam called from across the saloon.

Sebastian did so without argument, and when they returned they passed out the drinks and sat on the couch opposite of Aria and Abigail. Sam took a large swig of his drink and turned his attention to Aria. “So, let’s hear it,” he prompted. “What have you been up to since you left?”

Aria sipped on her new drink and replied, “There’s really not that much to tell.”

“Oh c’mon,” Abigail protested. “At least tell us about your job.”

Aria let out a long sigh and tucked her hair behind her right ear as she stared into her glass, clearly not wanting to talk about this. “Well, it sucked obviously. I did the same thing everyday, management was super strict, the pay wasn’t great, no one talked to each other.” She paused for a moment to take a breath. “I think that was the worst thing about Zuzu for me. There were so many people and it was always so loud but it always felt sort of lonely in a way. I never really felt like I belonged there.”

Sam nodded his head in understanding. “That’s how it felt when I was a kid too. I hated how noisy it was.”

“I can’t imagine being surrounded by that many people all the time,” Abigail agreed.

Sebastian however, stayed noticeably quiet. Probably because it had always been his dream to move out to the city. A dream that Aria had gotten a shot at, and abandoned. Everything he had always wanted she had despised and left behind. She couldn’t blame him for not listening to their chatter about the city. 

They all took another sip of their drinks before Aria continued. “Anyway, after hating my life and regretting my decisions for four years, I finally opened the letter my grandfather gave me. He said if I ever felt ‘in dire need of a change’ that I should open his letter. So I did, and it had the deed to his farm.”

“Wow, that’s incredible,” Abigail replied in awe.

“Yeah, it’s like I’m getting a second chance in life. I don’t wanna waste his gift either, so I’m gonna work super hard to restore the farm.”

“That’s one of the sweetest stories I’ve ever hear,” Sam choked out, tears in his eyes.

Aria couldn’t help but laugh at his response. “There you go getting emotional again.”

“I can’t help it, you know this is how I get when I drink.” He held up his empty glass for emphasis.

“You’ve only had two drinks!”

“Yeeeeaaah but I chugged em like it was my job!”

Suddenly Abigail cut in before anyone else could take another jab at him, “Oh boy, I better get this party animal home.” She stood up and set her half finished drink on the end table next to the couch, then pulled the blond up from his seat.

“But I’m not ready yet,” Sam argued.

“Sam,” Abigail scolded, “Don’t you have to watch your brother in the morning?”

“What, no I-” Abigail elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a not-suspicious-at-all wink. “Ohhhh, yeah you’re right. I’d better get home.”

Aria, knowing her friends way too well to not immediately understand what they were trying to do, got to her feet as well. “I should get back to the farm then.”

Abigail reacted immediately and shoved her back down on the couch. “Nonsense! Don’t let this lightweight ruin your fun! This is your first night out since you’ve been back, you should enjoy it.” She began hustling Sam towards the door in an attempt to make a quick escape. “Besides, the farm will be there in the morning and Sebastian still owes you a welcome back drink.”

“But I really don’t need another-”

“Bye-bye now!” Abigail interrupted with a huge grin on her face. She slunk outside and slammed the door behind her as she and Sam no doubtedly ran home to make sure neither of their friends could catch up.

“Those idiots,” Aria muttered under her breath. Sebastian didn’t say anything, which dared Aria to glance over at him. He sat still in his place on the opposite couch, twirling his drink around in the glass much like she had been doing earlier. He was uncomfortable, she could tell. They had always had the same amount of social skills, especially when it came to situations like this. They were both too afraid to say anything and make the situation worse, so they opted for sitting in silence instead.

After what felt like an eternity of quiet and the ongoing battle raging in Aria’s head, she finally gathered up the courage to say something. Right as she was opening her mouth to speak, Sebastian got the first word in, “Do you wanna play the arcade machine?”

Aria looked up from her drink and stared at him dumbfounded. She really hadn’t expected him to say anything to her, especially if she hadn’t initiated it. He took her silence as rejection and sighed, standing up. “Nevermind, we don’t have to.”

Aria rose off the couch as well, frantically waving her hands around in front of her. “No, I’d love to play,” she spat out in a panic.

He finally looked up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time since he had walked in that night. It sent a strange feeling through her gut. 

“Okay,” he answered simply. He walked over to the machine and put a few quarters in. He stood in front of the Player 1 side and waited for her to join him. When she did, he selected the two-player option and a familiar screen appeared. It was Journey of the Prairie King, the game that she had played with Abigail just the day before.

As the first level started up, she used the same strategy she had with Abigail. Playing it safe was the only way to do it early game before you started collecting power ups. Then when the screen was flooded with monsters, you unleashed the power ups to kill as many as possible. Sebastian seemed to understand this as well, as he played the same tactic. He was much better than Abigail, she had to admit, and soon they were clearing levels with ease. She was pretty proud of herself for keeping her composure under these awkward circumstances. She never would have forgiven herself if she made him think she’d lost her touch for video games over the years. Games were something that they had always easily bonded over after all.  
About an hour more of monster ass kicking went by before the game was finally cleared and they were able to proudly put their initials in the high scores. Aria stepped back from the machine and let out a yawn, stretching her arms far above her head. 

Sebastian looked over to her with a tilt of his head. “Tired?” He questioned.

“A little bit,” she admitted.

He nodded his head in understanding and stepped away from the machine as well. He remained quiet for a moment, looking as if he were contemplating something. Finally, he spoke up and offered, “I can walk you home.”

Aria couldn’t help but crack a smile and reply, “That’s just what Sam and Abby were planning.”

He let out a short laugh and agreed, “Yeah, that was pretty obvious.”

“Should we tell them we’re onto them?”

“Nah, let’s let them think their little scheme worked.” He motioned for her to walk ahead and she did, leading the way out of the bar.

She nodded her head in agreement, crossing her arms over her chest as they walked. “You’re right. I’d feel bad if we didn’t give them at least a little credit.”

“Credit for what?” He questioned, eyeing her through his dark fringe which hid the side of his face.

“Well,” she replied, braving a look over at him. “We’re talking a bit aren’t we?”

He paused before answering, “Yeah, I guess so.”

They continued their walk through Pelican town, and Aria took note of how beautiful the sky was in the valley at night. Seeing the stars was always something she had missed about this place when she lived in the city. You could never quite see them through all the fog and lights of nighttime Zuzu. Here though, she could see them so clearly she felt as if she could reach out and grab them. It was gorgeous.

The town was also extremely quiet at night, she noticed. It was hardly midnight and everyone already had all of their lights turned off in their homes. The only light that remained on was a dim one flickering through the window of the clinic. The only sound that could be heard was an occasional springtime light breeze. The night felt incredible, and she was positive she would get some quality sleep that night. It was still a little chilly, but maybe she’d even open up a window to let some fresh air in.

Before she knew it, they had arrived at her front porch step. She suddenly felt embarrassed about all of the weeds she hadn’t cleared yet, but she knew Sebastian wouldn’t care. As he hardly took a glance around, she would even bet that he barely noticed a difference.

“Well, here we are,” he spoke up.

“Yep, home sweet home.”

Silence fell over them for what felt like the millionth time that night before Sebastian scratched the back of his head and quietly called, “Hey Aria?”

“Yeah?”

A breeze blew by and tossed his raven hair around his face as he offered, “Do you wanna talk about what happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting to the flashback next chapter, thanks for being patient :)


	5. The Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title says it all

_Aria had texted Sebastian earlier that day and told him she needed to tell him something. He told her to come over without hesitation and so she did. She walked to his house in the midsummer heat, thoughts swimming around her head. How would she tell him? How would he react? She’d been practicing what she would say all morning and yet none of it seemed to ease her mind._

_Their relationship was confusing, to put it in the simplest terms. They had been friends since they were very young and had spent all of their time together. They hung out together and confided in one another. To Aria, they felt like something more than friends but at the same time she wasn’t sure she would call them anything more than that either. Either way, she certainly wasn’t planning on approaching him about that mess._

_Besides, that day they had another mess to talk about. And she had better figure out how to bring it up quick because now she was standing in front of his house and knocking on the door. It was Robin who let her in, and she told her to go ahead and head down to Sebastian’s room. She did, and when she got down there she found him sitting in front of his computer like he often was. It looked like he was playing some kind of game. She didn’t want to interrupt him, so she made herself comfortable on his couch and waited for him to finish the game._

_It didn’t take him long, and when he was done he sat down on the couch next to her, leaning his back against the arm so he could face her. “So what’s going on?” He asked her. Right to the point._

_She looked down at her knees, picking the loose strings on the hole in her jeans. “Well,” she started. “I got a job in Zuzu… working for Joja.”_

_He stared at her with a blank expression on his face. “Working… for Joja?”_

_“Yeah… honestly I’ve never really been sure what I want to do with my life, and I was able to get this job through family. I can avoid wasting money on college and my brother said I can stay with him while I try to figure out where to live.”_

_“So you’re just gonna leave all of your friends here to chase after some job you don’t even want because it’s the easy way out?”_

_The sudden edge to his voice startled her into looking up from the hole in her jeans. The look in his eyes was serious, and it was something she didn’t see often from him. She didn’t know what she had originally expected when she was planning on telling him, but it certainly wasn’t this. Some girlish romantic part of her that was hidden way deep down had hoped he would ask her to stay. Maybe that was the reason his reaction struck such a nerve._

_“I’m not taking the easy way out,” she defended. “And it’s not like I’ll never see you all again.” She was telling the truth, she had fully intended on coming back to visit. Maybe her visits wouldn’t be as long as normal, but she still planned on making them. He was acting like she was abandoning them for good._

_“You’re accepting a job you don’t want that you did absolutely nothing to earn. That’s taking the easy way out.” He was staring her down with a coldness in his eyes that she couldn’t remember ever being directed at her. It sent a chill down her spine, but besides startling and hurting her a great deal, it also made her angry._

_That was the statement that caused her to snap. Before she realized what she was saying, she snapped back, “Yeah, well at least I’m trying to do something with my life. What are you doing? You’ve done nothing but sulk and act like the world’s against you your entire life. Maybe if you actually applied yourself to literally anything you could find a job too.”_

_The expression he gave her told her everything that his silence didn’t. She had gone too far. His expression was a mixture of hurt and anger and she could see him gripping the side of the couch like he needed something to hold on to._

_“Seb, I didn’t mean-” She tried backtracking, but he cut her off._

_“Forget it. Just forget I said anything.” He dropped his gaze away from her and stood up, walking back over to where he previously sat before she had showed up and ruined his day._

_She stood up too and watched him with pleading eyes. “Sebastian, I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”_

_He had stopped listening to her. Nothing she said at that point mattered to him. All anger and any sign of other emotions had completely drained out of his voice as he asked, “Can you just go?”_

_He stared at his computer but didn’t make any move to do anything with it. The screen cast a blue glow over his face, reflecting off the glassiness of his eyes. She had really hurt him with those words. She wanted to take all of it back, but she knew there was nothing she could do at the moment. He wasn’t going to listen to her after what she had said. She had known that everyone thinking he was lazy was something he was sensitive about, and she had immediately attacked it. The way things were right then, she didn’t deserve his forgiveness._

_So she left. She went back to her grandfather’s farm and didn’t speak to him for the rest of the summer. In fact, she barely talked to anyone from the valley for the rest of the summer. She helped her grandfather with all of his farmwork far more than she ever had before, doing her best to avoid everyone she possibly could. She didn’t have the will to talk to any of them in fear of messing up with them the same way she had with Sebastian. She didn’t want to hurt anyone else._

_When summer finally ended, she did exactly what she told Sebastian she was doing and moved in with her brother. She ended up staying with him a lot longer than she had intended to, but he insisted that he didn’t mind. He let her stay with him the entire time she was at Joja, which was a miserable four years. The hours were long and boring, and she never really made friends in the office to help pass the time. Everything and everyone there felt so mindless._

_The days passed by uneventfully, and every day she grew more and more tired of it. Sebastian had been right, this hadn’t at all been what she wanted. She had accepted the job because it was easy, and because she was afraid of what people would think of her if she didn’t find work._

_Finally, she had gotten so sick of it that she had opened her grandfather’s letter and quit immediately. She told her brother that she was leaving and he supported her decision whole-heartedly, promising to visit her soon. It only took her a day to pack up all of her things, and with that, she returned to Stardew Valley._

***

Aria sat hunched over slightly with her hands folded in her lap. It had just struck midnight and already she could tell it was going to be another late start tomorrow. She wasn’t exactly doing the best at adjusting to her new farm schedule, but she knew no matter what she told herself at that moment she wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep. Her head was spinning, and at this point she couldn’t tell if it was the effects of the alcohol she had consumed that night or the boy sitting across from her that were causing it.

She and Sebastian had settled into her dining room chairs thanks to her lack of better place to sit. She hoped to make enough money for some new furniture soon, but for the moment her grandfather’s old dining room set would have to do for their late night discussion. She took a glance up at Sebastian and found him staring directly at her, presumably debating where to start. Every section of her mind was screaming at her to just apologize, but her body betrayed her and kept her lips sealed shut. She didn’t know what was making this so difficult for her, but she knew she had to say something or nothing would ever get solved. She bit down hard on her bottom lip before opening her mouth to speak.

“I’m sorry,” Sebastian suddenly blurted out.

Her eyes widened in shock as she stared back at him. His apology was the last thing she had expected after what she had said to him all those years ago. She couldn’t understand what he meant by it, couldn’t wrap her head around what he could possibly be sorry for. She was the one that lashed out. _She_ was the one that hurt _him_. So why did he have such a guilty look on his face? It made her heart ache, yet she still couldn’t find the right words to express her feelings. How much longer could it possibly take for her to find them? How many more years?

“I shouldn’t have said the things I did,” he continued, causing her brow to furrow. He let out a deep sigh and began rubbing his finger at an age old smudge on the table. “You had every right to take that job, and I was just…” he trailed off for a moment before finalizing his thoughts, “jealous I guess.”

Aria was completely stunned. “Jealous?”

He nodded, hair falling down into his face. “You were moving on with your life, and I was _still_ stuck here,” he admitted. “You found a real job, and I’m still doing freelance work.” He made a disgusted face when he said it, and she felt her guard begin to slip. “I felt like a was trapped and the only person I was ever able to openly talk to was moving on.”

“But I never did,” she immediately answered, bringing about a look of confusion from him. “And the real job you’re talking about? I hated it. Every single day of it. You might still be doing freelance work, but it’s what you love doing.” She spoke with passion in her voice as she continued, “You’ve always loved what you do, and I’ve always admired that. I wasted all of those years on a job I didn’t even want because I was scared of what people would think of me but _you_ ,” she looked him directly in the eye and paused. “You never cared what people thought of you. You’re working towards your dream in a way that _you_ believe in. I’ve never even had a dream to work towards and I still don’t know what I really want.” She was struggling to keep it together at this and her eyes were beginning to sting, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “What if I gave up everything and the farm still isn’t even what I want? What am I supposed to do?”

Watching her like that, Sebastian couldn’t sit still. He moved on instinct and stood from his chair, pulling her up from her own spot and pulling her into his arms. He gave her a tight squeeze and rested his cheek on the top of her head as she began to cry in his sweater. She gripped onto him tightly, giving a thousand muffled apologies as he rubbed comforting circles into her back. “It’s okay,” he assured her in a whisper. “You’re okay.”

Aria held onto him like that for a while, trying to regain every ounce of time they’d been apart all in that moment. Her quiet sobs were choking her, but she felt like this was the first time she could properly breathe for the first time in long time. A huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and it was as if she had been in a deep sleep until that moment. The past few years spent away from the valley had all been a dream, and she was just now waking to find her real life.

As her body finally began to relax and she was beginning to regain her composure, she took a small step backwards and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her cardigan. Sebastian released her carefully, and she looked up at him when she finished drying the tears from her face. “Hey, Sebastian?” She asked.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we can try again?”

He gave her an earnest smile and nodded. “I think we should. After all I miss hanging out with the biggest nerd in town,” he joked, giving her a light and playful shove.

She let out a small giggle as she weakly pushed back. “I’m afraid that title does, always has, and always will belong to you.”

“Oh yeah?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Who decides that?”

“I did, just now,” she reported with a triumphant grin.

He grinned back and shot back, “Yeah whatever weeb lord.”

“Hey!” She puffed out her cheeks in mock annoyance. “I resemble that remark!”

They bother fell into a fit of long overdue laughter, and continued teasing at taking jabs at each other for the next half hour. It felt nice, Aria had to admit, having her best friend back. Her stomach was filled with a warm feeling that she hadn’t felt in quite a long time, but she forced it down for the moment in fear of dragging the night on too long. It was almost one in the morning, and she had a farm to take care of in the morning. Whether she’d be able to fit into this lifestyle or not, she still wasn’t sure, but at least she had someone to motivate her forward.

Sebastian seemed to sense how late it was getting as well, as he glanced at the clock on the wall and quickly turned back to her. “I should really get going,” he told her. “Gotta make sure I can sneak back in properly.”

“Talk to you soon?” She wondered. Hoped.

He smiled genuinely and answered, “I’ll text you.”

She smiled back and walked him over to the door, giving him a small wave as he departed and locking the door behind him. She let out a deep breath of relief and practically skipped to the bedroom before flopping down onto her bed. Maybe she could do this after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was rough on me to write but I'm fairly satisfied with how it came out. Now we can get into it~


	6. Black Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria gets a surprise new family member

Aria let out a long breath and straightened herself out, wiping the sweat from her brow. That morning had been particularly hot, and she wondered how she was going to handle the summer heat if she couldn’t even handle farm work in mid spring. Still, she couldn’t be too annoyed with herself. That morning she had woken up to her 5am alarm, thrown on an old pair of jeans, and gotten straight to work.

She had started with watering her parsnips, which were coming along very nicely, and then she had moved onto the more grueling work. She wanted to at least have all of the weeds pulled by the end of the week, so she had grabbed her sickle and got to chopping. Swinging a sickle around was more tiring than she had expected it to be however, so she allowed herself a moment to stretch out her muscles and breathe. She decided she had earned herself a glass of water, and she headed back toward her house to do just that.

The cold liquid was just as refreshing as she had hoped it would be, and she felt ready to continue tackling all those weeds. With any luck and maybe she would even find some more mixed seeds to plant. Any amount of money would help this early in her new career. She really needed some new furniture, but before she allowed herself that luxury she needed to get a chicken coop built at least. She planned on having a barn built as soon as possible as well, but she was taking small steps before she broke into a full sprint. Still, she knew she at least needed a chicken coop before winter rolled around and she couldn’t grow crops anymore. She had to keep the money rolling in somehow so she could feed herself through the cold months. So to do that, she needed to grow all the crops she possibly could now and save up money to prepare for her first winter on the farm.

When Aria opened her front door to head back outside, she found a face she hadn’t been expecting to see. It was the owner of the local ranch in Cindersnap Forest, Marnie. She was a short stocky woman with a gentle face and a strong love for animals.

Aria gave her a small wave and a smile, happy to see a friendly face. In Marnie’s arms however, was something that Aria was even more delighted to see. It was a small black kitten with big golden eyes staring straight at Aria. Her heart melted and she instinctively reached out to pet it without even realizing. Marnie gave a light laugh at her reacted and allowed her to rub the small animal’s head.

“You seem to like cats I see,” she commented amused.

Aria nodded her head vigorously and replied, “Mhm! I love them, so soft and cuddly.”

Marnie gave a knowing nod back and told her, “I found this little one just outside the entrance of your farm. I think it’s a stray… poor little thing.” She glanced down at the bundle of fluff in her arms that let out a small mew and reached out its paw towards her. She smiled at it and gave it her finger to play with, which it gently swatted at delightedly. “So I was thinking,” she mused quietly, almost seeming afraid to suggest it, “Don’t you think this farm could use a good cat?” She looked up again and met Aria’s intense gaze.

“Yes,” Aria agreed immediately.

“Great!” Marnie exclaimed, giving the kitten one last pet before handing it over to the extremely excited farmer who stood before her. “You be a good kitty for Aria now,” she told the kitten.

Golden eyes stared up at Aria and it’s small form vibrated softly as it purred in Aria’s arms, as if it were agreeing to behave. “Thank you so much,” Aria told Marnie sincerely.

“No, thank _you_ for giving this little guy a home.” She took a step back and gave a satisfied nod as she watched Aria happily hold her new family member. “Well, I can see he’s very happy with you, so I’m going to get back to the ranch. Let me know if there’s anything you need help with.”

“Thank you, I will,” Aria agreed.

She turned and went back into her house, setting the kitten on the floor. It glanced around the front room apprehensively before it began to sniff around. Aria took the opportunity to take out her phone and snap a few pictures, sending them in a group chat to Abigail, Sam, and Sebastian.

Within seconds, Abigail replied:

_Abby: OMG!!!_

Aria giggled as she received the exact response she had been expecting. She was about to reply with an invitation for them to come see the kitten, but Sam beat her to it.

_Sam: Cat alert! This is code red! We have to send backup!_

_Abigail: Hurry and get the commander! We need to get over there ASAP!_

_Sam: I’m on it! Arrival in T minues 30!_

_Abigail: I’ll meet you guys there!_

_Aria: Do you mind picking up some cat food at Pierre’s? I can pay you back for it when you get here._

_Abigail: Anything for my new son in law!_

Aria heard a crash, pulling her attention away from her phone to find her stack of video games had been knocked off the shelf and onto the floor. Among the strewn about cases stood an arched and fluffed up kitten, looking like it had never been more startled in its life. Aria shook her head and muttered to herself, “I guess I’d better find some toys for you to play with.”

***

Like Sam had promised, he had arrived within thirty minutes with Sebastian in tow. To Aria’s surpise however, Abigail still hadn’t arrived. She let the two of them and Sam immediately went searching around the house.

“Alright, where’s the little bundle of joy a- _OW!”_ Sam let out a yelp as the kitten had hunted him down and pounced at his feet, claws fully dug into his ankle as he nibbled at his toes. Sam fell to the floor dramatically, exclaiming at the top of his lungs, “I’ve been hit!” Aria let out a laugh while Sebastian rolled his eyes and walked towards his fallen friend. Sam reached an arm out towards him and choked out, “Commander… go on without me… tell my family I love them.”

The kitten was having a field day jumping all over Sam when Sebastian scooped him up off the blond and looked him over, ignoring his friends antics. “So what are you gonna name it?” He wondered, looking over to Aria as the kitten found new interest in smacking Sebastian’s hoodie strings around.

Aria walked over to him and pet the kitten who immediately turned in Sebastian’s arms and began biting at her fingers. She entertained him and answered Sebastian, “I think I’m gonna call him Jiji, you know, after-”

“After your favorite weeb film,” Sebastian interrupted.

“Oh shut it, you like that movie too!” She defended.

He laughed but agreed with her, “You’re right, it’s a good name.”

She smiled up at him and her front door burst open, a loud thud echoing through her house. She turned to see Abigail had dropped four large grocery bags on the floor in favor of running towards Sebastian who currently still held Jiji. She snagged him away and held him in the air above her, cooing, “Oh my gosh look at him!”

“I was, before you barged in,” Sebastian commented.

She continued to fawn over Jiji as Sam stood up and rejoined them. “What the hell did you buy Abs?” He questioned, eyeing the suspiciously large bags that she had left at the door.

“Oh, just the essentials,” she replied, not taking her eyes off Jiji for a second.

Aria went to investigate what the “essentials” were, and opened up the first bag. It contained the cat food she had asked for, along with several assortments of wet food and catnip. In the second bag, there was a cat box with a lid and cat litter, along with a mat to go in front of the box to prevent Jiji from tracking litter everywhere. The last two bags held a scratching post and every type of cat toy Aria could imagine.

“Jeez Abby,” Aria said, “You really went all out.”

“Well of course,” the purple haired girl replied. “I wanted to make sure you’d have everything you need for a new cat. I had to stop at Jojo for some of it, so that’s why it took me a little longer to get here.”

“How much do I owe you?” Aria wondered, almost afraid to even ask.

Abigail set Jiji down on the floor who immediately went running toward the bags Aria had just been going through. Abigail waved her hand in front of her face and answered, “Don’t worry about it. You can just repay me by letting me visit this little guy whenever I want. I’ve always wanted a cat, but dad is allergic to pretty much everything, so I’m going to pretend like this is my cat too.”

Aria couldn’t help but smile at her and agree. She was sure Jiji would love having the extra attention, and she had no reason to tell her no. She could certainly use the extra help as well, since this particular kitten seemed to have a ton of energy to burn.

The group of them spent the rest of the day playing with the kitten until finally he tired hiself out, making himself comfortable curled up in Sebastian’s lap. They all grinned at the sight, the pure black kitten sleeping in the goth kids lap. They looked like they belonged together.

“So,” Sam offered up, “What are everyone’s plans for the rest of the week? We haven’t had a Solarian Chronicles get together in a while.”

“Farm work mostly,” Aria replied. “I still haven’t saved up enough for that chicken coop, and the egg festival is already over. I’m kinda mad I missed it honestly.”

“Awww it’s okay,” Abigail assured her. “I’m sure you’ll kill it next year, and there’s plenty of other festivals coming up. I’ll even save you a dance at the flower dance.”

Sebastian made a face at the mention of his least favorite holiday of the year, causing Abigail to snicker. Aria, however, had no idea what they were talking about. “What’s the flower dance?”

“A huge waste of time,” Sebastian retorted.

“It’s pretty much what it sounds like,” Abigail corrected. “It’s a springtime festival where you pair off and dance. It’s pretty much just an excuse for Haley and Alex to show off and the rest of us to get forced into wearing fancy clothes.”

Aria made a face that mimicked Sebastian’s. “That _does_ sound like a waste of time. Socializing in a big group and dancing, two of my least favorite activities on the planet in one day, no thank you.”

Sebastian pointed over to her with his thumb. “She gets me,” he stated.

Abigail shook her head with a grin. “We all get you Seb,” she replied. “But that doesn’t mean our parents our letting us out of this. And if we have to go so do you,” Abigail finished, pointing at Aria.

Aria sighed, crossing her arms across her chest as she mumbled, “Yeah, yeah.”

Abigail grinned in victory, standing from her spot on the floor and stretching out. “Anyway, I’d better get home. Don’t worry though Ari, I’ll be thinking of ways to turn you into a flowery princess!”

“Oh boy,” Aria said flatly, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “I can’t wait.”

With a flourish of her wrist, Abigail was gone, and the other two left soon after her, with Sebastian reluctantly having to move the kitten off of his lap. Aria glanced at the clock on the wall. 9pm. If she wanted to start up at 5am again the next morning, she’d have to go to bed now.

She walked to her room, yearning for the day when she’d be able to enjoy a good hour of video games before bed. For now, however, she resigned to the fact that if she wanted to get any work done tomorrow, she’d have to call it quits for the day. She stripped down from her clothes from that day and got into her pajamas, a simple nightgown, and crawled into her bed. She slipped herself under the covers and had barely closed her eyes when there was a sudden weight on her chest and needle light claws had sunk into her neck. She opened her eyes and saw Jiji wiggling his butt and getting ready to pounce on her face.

“Looks like you’re gonna be a handful,” she told him, and he immediately made well on his previous wiggle, leaping onto her head and getting himself tangled in her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I like to use italics excessively.  
> That is all.


	7. Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two nervous dorks spend some time together

Aria’s first harvest had gone better than expected. She had grown all of the parsnips from the seeds Lewis had given her, not to mention some wild flowers and leeks from the mixed seeds she had found. On top of that, she had also been doing some fishing and foraging in her spare time, which was earning her some extra money as well. She was quite proud of herself for the amount of money she had made in only half a season. She had reached her goal for saving up enough money to get a chicken coop built before the end of spring, so she made her way up the mountain path with a spring in her step.

The walk to the carpenter shop from the farm was a short one, but it was one she enjoyed nonetheless. The trees along the mountain path had all flowered into a beautiful pink and a gentle breeze was blowing through them. There were no houses or buildings along this back road, which made it quiet enough that you could hear small animals scurrying through the bushes. It was a peaceful walk, and she found herself smiling as she made the last few steps of it and saw the roof of Robin’s shop coming into view.

There was a clanging sound carrying through the air from the other side of the building, and Aria peaked her head around to see what was going on. The garage door was open, and under a bright blue motorcycle stuck out a pair of long legs in torn black jeans. Aria leaned forward just enough for Sebastian to notice someone hovering over him and slid out from underneath his bike. His hair had fallen backward out of his face, and there were small oil spots freckling his cheeks.

“Well hey there cutie,” Aria joked with a grin.

A light blush crept over his face and he quickly wiped at the oil spots on his cheeks. She let out a small laugh and he sighed, replying, “Hey Ari.”

“So wattcha doin?” She wondered, glancing over the motorcycle once again.

“Huh?” He glanced up at her and then back at his bike again, still not moving to stand up. “Oh… I guess you’ve never seen my bike before.”

She shook her head in response. The strange part wasn’t Sebastian owning a motorcycle, she could totally picture that. The strange part was that almost no one in Pelican Town had a need for any type of vehicle. Everything was so close by that it would be an obvious waste to drive anywhere. Everyone just walked. So she wondered why Sebastian would have a need for one.

He seemed to read her mind as he explained, “To be completely honest, I got it while you were in Zuzu.” He slid back under the bike, partially to finish what he was working on, but mostly to avoid seeing the look on her face when she heard his explanation. “I kept thinking that one day I’d ride out and see you, try and patch things up.” More clanking sounds began to pour out from under the bike again. “But I just wimped out.”

The shift in mood made the playful grin fall from her face, and she felt her heart swelling instead. “I would have like it,” she admitted, “If you would have.”

The sounds stopped again and silence fell over them. He pondered on that thought for a moment. How would she have reacted if he really had gone to see her? How different would things have been? He imagined riding through Zuzu in the dead of night and climbing the stairs up to her apartment building. She’d let him in without a second thought and he’d apologize. She would forgive him and invite him to stay the night. They would watch movies and play video games all night like they always had when they were kids. They would joke and laugh and everything would be like it always had.

He struggled to shove down the feelings that were rising way back down into his chest. He cleared his throat and altered the subject, “It wasn’t a total waste. Sometimes I make the long ride out of Stardew Valley.” He began tinkering again as his voice took on a dream like tone. “There’s nothing else like it, blazing along the empty stretch of road toward the faint city glow…”

Aria smiled at the way his mood seemed to change when he talked about Zuzu, but for some reason she felt her chest tighten. “You always have loved the city.”

He smiled back, though she couldn’t see it. “Once I’ve saved up enough money, I’m going to head out on my own… to the city and beyond. Just me and my bike.”

Something weighed heavy on her chest again, but she couldn’t bring herself to voice her concerns. Who was she to warn him of the city’s harsh nature when she hadn’t taken his advice all those years ago? If he really wanted to leave for Zuzu, he had every right to, just like she did when she made that choice. And if he hated it, she decided, she’d be in Stardew Valley waiting, just like he had done for her.

As she was going through these thoughts in her head, Sebastian slid out from under his bike again, sitting up this time. He reached for the dirty rag next to him and began to wipe his hands. He looked at her, noticing the worried expression in her eyes, and offered up, “Maybe I’ll take you for a ride someday.”

She snapped out of her own self deprecating thoughts and stared at him. All she could do was give a forced smile and nod. “That sounds fun,” she replied, but her heart wasn’t wholly in it. She wasn’t sure she was interested on getting on a bike that would carry Sebastian away from the valley forever.

“Great,” he replied, and he began to stand up. “Is something wrong?” He asked her, after seeing that her expression still hadn’t changed. He knew she wouldn’t tell him, but tried to ask anyway, wanting her at least to know that he was there to talk to if she needed it.

As expected however, she shook her head. “No, just thinking.”

He gave a slow nod, deciding to accept that answer for now. She would talk to him when she was ready. For now however, he helped her out by switching topics, “So, what did you come up here for anyway?”

“Oh, I need to talk to your mom about a chicken coop,” she answered, glancing at the front door.

“Gottcha, let’s head in then,” he replied, grabbing the towel he had wiped his hands on and making his way into the house.

Aria followed behind him, feeling a sense of comfort fill her. Sebastian’s house was exactly the same as she remembered it. Built from wood from the ground up, it had apparently been Robin’s greatest accomplishment. She wondered if she’d ever make something this grand herself.

“Oh! Ari! Are you here to hang out with Sebastian today?” Robin called from behind the counter.

Aria shook her head as she approached the register. “No, I’m here to talk to you about that chicken coop.”

A grin split across Robin’s face. “That’s great! Well, why don’t you relax and talk to Seb anyway while I get these blueprints drawn up for you?”

“Okay, thank you.” She looked back over to Sebastian who flicked his head to the right towards the basement, motioning for her to follow him down. She did, and soon found herself in Sebastian’s bedroom, which had barely changed anymore than the rest of the house. 

It was a basement room, so it was a bit chillier and darker than the rest of the house, but that seemed to suit Sebastian perfectly. The walls were made of a dark colored brick, and several posters from different games and movies she recognized hung from them. There was a bed that faced a small ancient looking television, a computer desk set up with two computers (probably for when Sam came over to game,) and a couch with a radio sat on an end table next to it. In the center of the room was a game table that they had always used to play Solarian Chronicles when they were younger, and it looked as if it still got a lot of use. There were still some pieces laying on the board, and papers scattered across the table.

“I see you haven’t changed much,” she commented as she took the last step into his room.

He was already sitting down at his desk when he replied, “What were you expecting?”

“I dunno, what are adult boys into? Porno mags or something?”

He rolled his eyes as he started up his PC. “You have got to get out more.”

“Says the basement dweller,” she shot back.

“Touche.” He began typing away at his keyboard and she curiously meandered over to him, glancing at his monitor over his shoulder. “I was just gonna get some work done, you can just relax and do whatever you want,” he explained.

“Still a workaholic too, I see,” she pointed out.

“You would be the _only_ one that thinks that.”

“Oh come on, Abby and Sam both know you work hard too,” she attempted at defending their friends.

He let out a scoff. “Hardly. They both just barge in whenever they want and think I can just up and leave whenever I want.”

“They just don’t understand how freelance works,” she tried defending again.

“Yeah I guess…”

At a loss for words, he continued typing away. He acted as if he were annoyed, but he actually appreciated the fact that she had inadvertently complimented his work ethic. He had nearly forgotten how much she had always supported him, and he missed it. He stared at his screen for a long moment as he remembered how close they used to be, fingers freezing over the keys. Come to think of it, the two of them hadn’t hung out on their own since they’d made up. He glanced over to her and she smiled at him, causing a funny filling to course through him.

He took his hand away from his keyboard and leaned back in his chair. “Do you wanna watch a movie?”

She tilted her head at the seemingly random question. It wasn’t like him to stop working for something so unimportant. In fact she could recall several occasions where he had been annoyed with her for interrupting him work. Thinking that, she asked, “Aren’t you working?”

“It’s not a big deal. It’s not due right away so I’ll just take a break and work on it when you go home.”

She grinned and nodded excitedly. Having Sebastian stop working in order to spend time with her was something she couldn’t pass up. “Okay, what do you wanna watch?”

“Good question,” he replied. 

Sebastian did a little searching before deciding on a movie, then turned his computer monitor to face the couch. Aria took a seat and Sebastian soon followed. The movie began to play and Aria immediately recognized it as one of her favorites that they used to watch together. It felt nostalgic, and she found herself unintentionally leaning into Sebastian’s side, a comforting warmth radiating from him. 

He made no move to stop her, in fact he rather enjoyed the closeness. Though, if he was being honest, it did make it hard to focus on the movie. It brought him back to a time similar to this when they were still teenagers. Aria had gone to visit Sebastian and eat dinner with his family, and they ended up watching this exact movie at Aria’s suggestion. They sat on his couch together similar to how they were now. She had excitedly told him how much he would love the movie and he did. It was exactly the type of thing they would both enjoy, completed with magic and monsters galore.

This time, however, he found it almost impossible to pay attention. They both stayed pressed into each other’s side for a while, neither making any sort of move to go further but not moving away from each other either. Sebastian was mentally kicking himself for the full length of the film to focus on actually watching the film, but every shift of weight, every breath from Aria made his nerves stand on end.

Time seemed to stay still until finally Robin called from upstairs that the blueprints were done. The sound of her voice startled the two of them into jolting apart in an instant. Looking at each other for a brief moment afterward, they both burst into laughter at the oddity of their sudden fright.

Robin poked her head through the door, curious about the sudden commotion. “Is everything alright?” She called down.

“Yeah mom,” Sebastian yelled back. “Everything is great.”

And for once, it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm screaming at them too


	8. Just The Way I'm Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria gets some news she wasn't expecting

Aria had successfully started her day on time again, and had finished taking care of the farm at a relatively decent hour. She had fed her new chicks that she had gotten shortly after commissioning Robin to build a chicken coop. She had smashed some rocks and chopped some logs that would surely get in the way of her next harvest. She had even done some fishing and caught a few fish to sell.

After doing all that she had returned to the farmhouse to take a well deserved shower. She took her time and enjoyed the process, trying to decide how she wanted to spend the rest of her day. She would need to spend some time playing with Jiji, that was for sure, but she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do after that.

She stepped out of the shower drying her long brown hair with a towel and padded over to the mirror. She gave herself a once over as she continued drying her hair and frowned. She had an average body. One that would be considered thin by most standards but not thin enough to call ideal. Her chest was too small and it accompanied the rest of her body which lacked curves in any of the places she wanted them.

Her face was average too. Her skin was clear of blemishes but she had dark circles under her eyes and she’d occasionally break out in dry patches. She liked the color of her eyes but she hated the shape of her nose and her forehead was much too large. Her hair was thick and long but it had a mind of its own and was hard to manage.

Average.

Average.

Average.

She let out a long sigh at her plain appearance and wrapped her towel around herself to go find her phone in her bedroom. She opened her contact list and sent a quick message to Abigail.

_Aria: Having an identity crisis. Send help._

She set her phone on her nightstand before going over to her closet to look for something to wear. She settled on a pair of faded ripped jeans and a black t-shirt, then went back to check on her phone. As she had hoped for, Abigail had replied almost immediately.

_Abigail: You’ve come to the right place. Impulsive cosmetic changes are my specialty. What were you thinking?_

Aria’s thumbs hovered over the letters on her phone’s keyboard. What was she thinking? She needed new clothes, that was for sure, but that wouldn’t fix how plain she felt. She thought over it for a while longer and smiled, realizing she had never dyed her hair before since Joja wouldn’t allow unnatural hair colors. Tapping away at her phone once again, she replied.

_Aria: What do you think about pink hair?_

_Abigail: I’m on my way._

***

True to her word, Abigail arrived within the hour with a bag full of supplies. She gave a deep bow upon entering Aria’s house and greeted, “Hello valued customer and welcome to Abby’s Salon.”

Aria let out a laugh and shook her head. “This is _my_ house Abs.”

“Whatever, it’ll basically be my salon once all this shit is laying everywhere,” she answered, motioning to her heavy looking bag.

“That looks like a lot of stuff,” Aria commented, worry in her tone.

“Yeah, well we’re gonna have to bleach it first and I don’t want my best friend walking around with straw for hair so I brought over some treatments for you to use too.” As she was explaining this, she walked towards Aria’s bathroom and began emptying all of her stuff onto the sink. She motioned for Aria to follow her and had her sit down on the toilet lid. “Okay,” she continued. “How much do you care about this shirt?”

“Not very much.”

“Okay great, cause I never claimed to be the neatest hair stylist.”

Abigail got to work parting Aria’s hair into different sections and then had Aria tear tinfoil into strips for her while she mixed the developer into the bleach. She picked up her dye brush and asked, “You ready?”

“Yep, let’s do it,” Aria casually replied.

Abigail began carefully painting the mixture into Aria’s hair, starting at the ends and working her way through all of her hair before moving onto doing her roots. “I’m doing your roots last because it develops a lot faster up there since it gets so warm from being so close to your scalp,” she explained.

“Whatever you say personal stylist Abby, I trust you.” Aria smiled at her but began to scrunch up her nose. The smell of bleach was really strong and highly unpleasant.

“Sorry babe I’m working as fast as I can,” she told her, point emphasized by the way she was quickly moving around Aria’s head.

“No problem, take your time,” Aria assured her.

Abigail continued to work through the process until it was finally time to let Aria sit with a cap on. They opted for hanging out in the living room and playing with Jiji while the bleach processed. He ran around at their feet excitedly, launching himself at their legs and chewing on their socks.

As the bleach was processing, Abigail cleared her throat. “So about the flower dance?”

Aria looked up from playing with Jiji, letting him nip at her fingers. “Yeah, what about it?” Abigail looked away from her, hands folded in her lap. She was visibly uncomfortable with where this conversation was about to go, and Aria easily picked up on it. Reaching out to her purple haired friend, she carefully placed her hand on her shoulder. “Is everything okay?”

Abigail looked back up to her, guilt crossing her face as she had worried Aria. “Yeah, everything’s fine,” she quickly spat out. “I just…” Her speech slowed again as she continued, not wanting Aria to take what she was about to say the wrong way. Try as she might though, she knew there was only one possible way this conversation could go. Still, she had to get it off her chest.

“So I do the traditional dance with Sebastian every year,” Abigail finally continued. “Our parents make us do it every year, so we’ve always picked each other.” She took a long pause and finally gained the courage to meet Aria’s eyes. No matter how Aria took this, she had to tell her. “Are you going to be okay with that?”

Aria felt her face heat up at the implication Abigail was making. She folded her arms across her chest, trying to tough it out. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” She defended. She didn’t even sound convincing to herself.

Abigail hummed. “Still not admitting to it, huh?”

Aria huffed and clenched her jaw, a bad habit of hers that was a telltale sign she was hiding something. Abigail knew the it and saw right through it. Still, Aria remained defensive and muttered, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Abigail let out a long sigh. Aria was making this a lot harder than it needed to be. Still, she knew if her friend was going to get any further with Sebastian, Abigail would have to press further and get her to admit her feelings. Sebastian and Aria were both so dense however that getting either of them to admit to anything was going to be a challenge. In that case, she was going to have to spill it. She knew she’d get an earful from Sebastian later, but she didn’t care. She had to do it.

“Aria,” she suddenly called out in a serious tone. All signs of nervousness had left her expression, and all that remained was a pure look of determination. The sudden switch in tone made Aria look up at her in curiosity. Abigail stared her straight in the eyes and continued, “I dated Sebastian while you were gone.”

Aria felt her heart sink. She was stunned into wordlessness at this new information. Memories of old times with Sebastian whirled around her head. 

She remembered playing video games with him at Sam’s house. They would tease each other so consistently that it bordered on flirtation; Sebastian would give Aria a light jab, and she would bump her hip into his side in return.

She remembered watching movies with him in his room, leaning against his side and enjoying the warmth his body brought in his cold basement room. Sometimes his face would go completely red and other times he would get the nerve to loosely hang his arm around her.

She remembered one occasion specifically, when they had stayed out late talking by the lake and it had started to rain. They had laughed it off and continued their night, until a thunderstorm started up and the light rain turned into a torrential downpour. Sebastian had grabbed her hand on instinct and ran towards the house, and she had intertwined her fingers with his. She knew it wasn’t what he had intended, but he didn’t stop her and so she enjoyed the contact.

As she sorted through all of these memories, Aria came to a sudden and very real realization that she and Sebastian had never been anything more than friends. She thought they had something that leaned towards a relationship, but maybe it was only her that believed that. Maybe Sebastian really only thought of her as a friend, and all of those moments that she considered romantic he thought of as completely platonic. Maybe all of it was her imagination.

She was stupid to think anything of it, she realized, as plain as she was. Why would Sebastian settle for someone like her when she left him behind? When there was a girl as beautiful and amazing as Abigail who stayed back with him while she ran away? She tried to stop her brain from diving any deeper into that rabbit hole, but it was too late. Negative thoughts were already bubbling to the surface, and there was no stopping them when they were all aimed at herself. She couldn’t do anything to change the way she felt about herself. She could try and push the feelings down all she wanted but they would always rear their ugly heads again at moments like these.

A million thoughts and worries began to suffocate her, and all she could manage to choke out in response was a simple, “ _What?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so late! I'm packing for vacation this weekend.


	9. Time To Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The flower dance

Sebastian let out a long sigh as his mother continuously fussed over him, seated at the kitchen table. His half sister sat across from him dawning the traditional white flower dance dress. She snickered at him as their mom continued tightening the already suffocating tie around his neck and smoothing his hair back with so much gel he wondered if it would ever see its normal style again.

“You look good bro,” Maru commented, half serious and half just wanting to annoy him.

“Alright enough,” he snapped, lightly swatting Robin’s hand away.

She smiled at him, seemingly happy with her work. “Sorry Sebby, I just can’t help it when I have a son as handsome as you,” she cooed back. “You look great.”

He rolled his eyes in response, causing Demetrius who was sitting next to him at the table to slam down his coffee cup a little harder than necessary. “You should be grateful to your mother for helping you like this,” he scolded.

Sebastian grunted. “Yeah, well it’s not like I asked her to do this.”

Demetrius narrowed his eyes at his poor-mannered stepson and opened his mouth to snap back at him before Maru jumped up from her chair and interjected, “Alright, shall we get going?”

Robin did one final check over her children before nodding her approval. “Yep, let’s head on out,” she declared.

Robin was the first one out the door, shortly followed by her husband and then Maru. Sebastian trailed a decent distance behind them, not interested in taking part in the family banter. That, and he didn’t want to talk to Demetrius any more than he had to. Instead, he followed behind with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his slacks, staring down at his feet the whole way there. It was a pretty long walk to the festival from their house, as the flower dance took place in Cindersap Forest and they lived on the opposite side of town. He dreaded every step closer to the damn woods, knowing fully well that once he got there he’d be stuck there all day.

It wasn’t just the boredom that would bother him however, what would absolutely drive him up a wall was that every single resident of Pelican Town would be there, watching him dance. He had tried escaping this sad fate every year, and every year it caused an argument between him and his family. Something about upholding old traditions or some other bullshit. He frankly couldn’t care less about the valley’s dumb traditions, what had they ever done for him other than make him uncomfortable?

The flower dance was the worst tradition of all in his opinion, and as he walked into the clearing with his family, a sense of overwhelming anxiety washed over him. Everyone in town was there, just like always, and they all turned to look at him when he was the last to finally trail in. He momentarily wondered if he made a full sprint in the opposite direction if anyone would chase him. That thought was cut short however, by his mom lightly taking hold of his wrist and pulling him along towards the other participants for the dance. How did she always read his mind like that?

He watched as the rest of the villagers began to clear out of the way and take their spots in the audience to make room for the main event. He sighed, turning his attention to the purple haired girl in front of him. Abigail was looking around at the crowd as well when she grumbled, “Well, let’s get this over with.”

The tone in her voice suggested that something was bothering her, something other than the flower dance. He studied her face but found no hint of what it could be, and she made no further comments before Lewis loudly cleared his throat. Everyone turned their heads to look at him as he smiled out at the crowd.

Lewis made a quick announcement about the dance starting and Sebastian took his place a few feet away from Abigail, facing her as she took hold of the skirt of her dress. The music started softly and the girls all began swinging their skirts around them, causing them to flutter outward like flower petals. The boys all walked towards them in a line, bouncing up and down in time with the music.

Sebastian continued to watch Abigail as they closed the gap between them, taking hold of each other and continuing to dance in traditional fashion. Her expression continued to be unreadable, and he thought about trying to quietly talk to her. He leaned his head forward towards her ear as they danced, hoping no one would notice anything out of the ordinary. He opened his mouth to speak when he glanced up to see if anyone had noticed and saw Aria, standing by herself backed away from the rest of the crowd.

His mouth hung open as he stared at her. She stared back at him with a pensive look on her face. She was leaned against a tree with her hands folded in front of her, postured like a proper lady but not wearing the expression to match. She wore a short summer dress that clung tightly to her torso but flowed out at the waist, adorning a flower print to fit the occasion.

_Her hair,_ he noticed immediately. 

Her hair had been dyed a light peach color, and hung around her frame in loose curls.

_She’s gorgeous._

He froze in his spot momentarily, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be dancing for an audience. He was quickly forced back into the rhythm as Abigail stomped on his foot, nearly causing him to shout. The glare she gave him warned him not to, and he regained his composure enough to continue what they had been forced to do every year since they were children.

The dance continued without further interruption after he forced himself to focus on the matter at hand, and the music finally began to slow to a stop. Sebastian and Abigail took a few steps away from each other as they settled into their final poses, and the audience began to cheer. He found himself searching the crowd for Aria again, and his eyes found her with a small smile on her face, clapping lightly from her shaded position. He couldn’t help but smile back at her, and instinctively took a step towards her before he saw Sam approach her.

The smile fell from his face as the two began talking gleefully. His attention was averted from her by Abigail lightly tugging at his sleeve. He looked over to her and finally identified the emotion on her face: nervousness. He turned to face her fully and asked, “What’s wrong?”

She glanced around the crowd before tugging at his sleeve again, pulling him away from the center of the clearing. As they were walking towards the cover of the local forest, his mother called out to him, “Sebastian! You two did great!”

Abigail continued pulling him along, purpose in her step. He waved towards his mom as he quickly followed behind Abigail, calling back to her, “Thanks mom, I’ll see you at home later!”

The two finally made it to Abigail’s intended destination, and she swung around to face him, immediately blurting, “I told her.”

Sebastian furrowed his brow, not understanding what she meant. “What do you mean?” He wondered.

“I told Aria we dated,” she clarified.

He froze in place for the second time that day, this time cause by shock and fear rather than infatuation. He looked back toward Aria and Sam again, noticing the way she laughed at whatever joke Sam had just told her.

“I felt like I had to, ya know? She’s my best friend, I couldn’t just keep that from her,” Abigail continued.

Sebastian nodded his head slowly in response as he tore his eyes away from Aria and Sam to look again at Abigail. She looked worried, like she was scared what she had just told him would cause him to snap. He couldn’t be angry with her though, because he had never intended to hide it in the first place. He just hadn’t found the right time or the right way to explain it to Aria yet.

“What did she say?” He questioned.

Abigail folded her arms across her chest as she took her own turn at glancing over at Sam and Aria. Sebastian watched her carefully, waiting patiently for her response. Whatever one she gave him, he was going to have to learn to live with it.

“She seemed…” she started. “Shocked, I guess?” The tone in her voice was unsure, confusing him slightly.

“What do you mean ‘I guess?’”

Aria and Sam began to exit the forest, heading their separate ways to make their way home before sunset. Aria had to get ready to take care of the farm in the morning, no doubt, and Sam probably had to watch his little brother the next day. Watching Aria leave shot an empty feeling through Sebastian’s body, though seeing Sam walk in the opposite direction also gave him a bit of reassurance.

Abigail watched along with him as she furthered her explanation, “I don’t really know how to take her reaction, honestly. She didn’t say much, just kind of listened and nodded.” Abigail looked back to him as Aria and Sam made their way out of sight. “She didn’t seem mad at least,” she finished.

Sebastian nodded again, understanding her meaning a slight bit better. He wasn’t sure what he had expected Aria’s reaction to be, so hearing that Abigail was just as confused by it brought him a small amount of comfort. He also didn’t know what he wanted to do about the situation. Should he talk to Aria about it himself? Would that be weird? What if she didn’t think anything of it and he just came across as clingy? But what if he didn’t say anything at all and she got mad that he didn’t tell her the truth himself? He felt like he was right back to square one with being entirely unsure of her feelings just like it had been when she got back.

“I think you should talk to her,” Abigail vocalized her own feelings. 

Sebastian agreed with her. It might not be the most pleasant conversation in the world, but he felt like they needed to have it. He needed to clear up any misunderstandings and calm the uneasy feeling in his heart. He nodded his head and pulled out his cell phone, shooting off a short text to Aria.

_Sebastian: Is it okay if I stop by?_

He waited a few moments with his cell phone in hand, holding his breath as he saw the little animation play at the bottom of his screen, letting him know that she was typing. It took another minute, but she answered.

_Aria: Yeah, come on over._

Sebastian let out a long sigh and looked back up to Abigail was staring at him, waiting for an explanation. He gave her a reassuring smile and held his cell phone out for her to see. After she finished reading, he slid the device back into his pocket and turned to exit the forest, keeping his head turned to look at her.

“Wish me luck,” he requested. He turned his head forward to watch where he was going and tripped, landing flat on his face.

Abigail flinched at the thud his body made when coming in contact with the grass. “You’re gonna need it,” she retorted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be busy this week after getting back from vacation so here, have this chapter a little early :)


	10. Admit It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seb and Ari have another heart to heart, this time involving their relationship

_“Aria,” Abigail had called out to her. “I dated Sebastian while you were gone."_

_Aria had been completely taken aback by that statement. She found herself swimming through old memories and wondering how she had gotten so caught up in her own emotions. Sebastian had never liked her as anything more than a friend, she had only been leading herself on._

_“What?” She had choked out. She couldn’t find any other words than that. She had never been good at proper communication, but now the ability seemed to have completely abandoned her. She suddenly couldn’t remember any of the vocabulary she had learned throughout her life._

_As Aria ran with such self-deprecating thoughts, Abigail explained, “My dad was always asking about my love life, ya know?” She had been looking at Aria previously, but now busied her hands with picking at the skin around her nail beds. “My parents never really understood me, didn’t know what to do with me. My dad especially doesn’t get it. So he just kept poking and prodding, trying to find any type of hint that I’m leading a normal life. I guess I just kind of got sick of it, you know?” She looked up at Aria again, knowing that she would understand the feelings of an outcast well._

_“I didn’t really like Sebastian in that way, but I reeeeaaaally didn’t like the other guys in town either,” she continued. “So I asked him out. It was pretty shitty of me to do it honestly. I knew he didn’t have feelings for me, but I knew he wouldn’t turn me down either.”_

_Aria listened with her full attention, never having heard this side of her friend before. Abigail was always so bright and full of confidence, she had never even thought that something as insignificant as someone else’s opinion on her life would affect her so much. She guessed it just went to prove that everyone was human. Even someone that put on such a brave face as Abigail went through hard times._

_“Anyway, we dated. Or, said we were dating at least. It never really felt any different than our normal relationship.” Abigail frowned. “I don’t know what I was expecting, I knew he didn’t like me. But every now and then I would try to push a bit, hold his hand or stupid shit like that. He would always pull away and act like he was busy with something else, and even though I knew what we had wasn’t a real relationship, it still hurt somehow.”_

_These were her real feelings now, Aria could tell. Not the fake ones she put on display for everyone else to see, but her true and honest feelings. Aria remembered her earlier thoughts of jealousy and immediately regretted them. She had always thought Abigail was this strong, perfect woman, but she was just as insecure as Aria was._

_“Sometimes I would talk about you after you left. I would tell him about funny things you said, or interesting things you told me about the city. I had never gotten more of his attention than when I was talking about you. I could talk about comics, video games, anything, and none of it compared to the way his face would light up when I mentioned you.” She stared Aria right in the eyes as she continued, “That’s how I knew I had to end it. I knew I couldn’t be selfish anymore and force him to pretend to like me when he was so clearly in love with you.”_

_Aria’s heart skipped a beat._

_“So I told him we had to break up. I made up some dumb excuse about…” Abigail’s explanation continued, but Aria didn’t hear any of it. All she had heard were the words:_

_**He was so clearly in love with you.** _

_**His face would light up when I mentioned you.** _

_**I had never gotten more of his attention than when I was talking about you.** _

_**He was so clearly in love with you.** _

_The words played over and over again, like a broken record that couldn’t play more than the first thirty seconds of a song. It repeated on loop, over and over again, until Abigail pulled the needle of the track, “Hey, are you listening?”_

_Aria stared at her, words continuing to escape her. How was she supposed to answer that, how could she? She had barely ever been able to admit her feelings to herself, so to hear someone with an outside perspective tell her that Sebastian might feel the same way? Unfathomable._

_She nodded her head._

_Abigail watched her with a concerned look in her eye. She had expected this news to break Aria’s heart, but here she was staring at her with a blank look on her face like she hadn’t heard any of it._

_I swear to Yoba if she makes me say it again, she thought to herself._

_“Are you okay?” Abigail asked._

_Another nod._

_Aria’s expression wasn’t changing, and Abigail realized that it was a look of shock, not boredom. Maybe she had gotten through that thick skull of hers after all. She grinned to herself and gave herself a mental pat on the back. Maybe Aria would even thank her for giving her this shove later. But for now, they had more work to do so Aria would look perfect for the upcoming festival._

_“Alright airhead, let’s wash out this bleach and get to the fun part,” she instructed._

***

Aria sat at her kitchen table, waiting for Sebastian and impatiently glancing at the time on her phone. If she went to bed in exactly an hour she could get about seven and a half hours of sleep. That was if she was lucky and fell asleep right away. And if she didn’t hit the snooze button on her alarm seven times. And-

“Ari?” Sebastian’s voice called from the front door.

She jolted up from her chair and quickly made her way to the front of her house to let him in. She opened the door and looked up at him, his hair still pushed out of his eyes from the festival only an hour ago. Still dressed in the traditional pale blue suit with his tie loosened just enough to rebel against the dress code. Still absolutely gorgeous.

She swallowed.

They weren’t even talking yet and this already wasn’t going well. All he had to do was show up and she was a blubbering mess. Had one explanation from Abigail really made her this nervous around him? She had never felt this way with him before.

As she stood motionless, mouth gaping like an idiot, Sebastian tilted his head and smirked in amusement. “Something on my face?” He teased.

Her face went red as she panicked to try and compose herself. She stood up straight and picked her jaw up off the floor, blurting out, “No I was just thinking how weird you look in a suit is all.”

She was screaming at herself internally. That wasn’t what she had been thinking at all. In fact that was the exact opposite of what she was thinking. What she had really been thinking was how good looking he was and how nice it would feel to wrap her arms around his thin frame and-

_OH MY YOBA._

__

__

STOP.

STOP.

_REWIND._

“Why don’t you come in?” She choked out.

He raised an eyebrow at her odd behaviour, but moved past her to head inside nonetheless. The cottage felt a lot more homey than when he had first seen it. She had hung up curtains on all the windows, there was a vase of flowers sitting on the kitchen table, and Jiji’s toys were scattered across the floor. It was beginning to feel a lot less like an abandoned shack and a lot more like somebody actually lived there.

That someone cleared her throat behind him as he was glancing around the room. “So, what did you want to stop by for?”

Now it was his turn to get nervous. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and kicked at a scuff on the floorboards. “Oh you know,” he replied awkwardly, and he wished he could kick himself instead of the floor.

His response made her laugh a bit. “No, I don’t know Seb, that’s why I’m asking.”

He rolled his eyes at her but gave a smile with it. “Well, to be honest, Abby told me she spilled the beans.”

“We spill tea now Seb, not beans. Grow up,” Aria joked.

“Oh my yoba if you start talking like that I swear I’ll leave right now.”

“Okay, okay, I’m listening.”

Sebastian let out a long sigh, smile still plastered on his face. She knew just how to make light of a situation. It was fine by him though, it made things a lot easier on him to start this conversation. With the mood lightened, he continued easily, “Abby said she talked to you, and I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing.”

“What do you mean?” The fact that he was coming to check on her implied that he knew she had feelings for him, but didn’t reveal any of his own emotions. That hardly seemed fair.

“You know what I mean,” he accused.

She blinked at him innocently. She knew exactly what he meant, but she hoped that if she gave him a light push he would come clean about his own feelings. Did he like her back, or was she being too hopeful? Was Abigail right, or had she misinterpreted Sebastian’s behaviour? She couldn’t keep waiting for answers, she had to know.

“Well,” he started, uncomfortably rubbing the back of his head. “The way things were before, you know, before you left?” She nodded, encouraging him to go on. “Before we got in that fight, we were a bit more than friends, don’t you think?”

Her heart fluttered in her chest and her breath caught in her throat while she processed his words. She nodded, silently agreeing with him.

“So I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and that everything's still fine between us,” he clarified.

Aria paused before giving him a response, mulling over the thoughts in her head. To be completely honest, when Abigail had first told her about her relationship with Sebastian, she had been devastated. The person who she had seen herself with had dated her best friend. But after hearing Abigail’s explanation, she had realized that Sebastian was just trying to help Abbigail. Not only that, but Sebastian and Aria had never been clear about their relationship, never talked anything out, so how could she blame either of them for it? It was her own fear of communication that had caused her pain. So now she wanted to be clear.

“Sebastian,” she asked, “What are we? Now, I mean?”

“I don’t really know,” he replied. Her heart sunk a bit before he continued, “To be honest, I’ve liked you for a really long time. And I felt like you liked me too, before you left. But when you did leave… it felt like you were leaving me behind too.”

Aria nodded in understanding. She couldn’t blame him for that either. She had been too much of a child before to tell him how she felt, much less so after they got in that fight. She had run away from the valley, and she had run away from her own feelings. Ignoring them was easier than admitting to them, because ignoring them meant she wouldn’t have to get hurt if he turned her down.

“I liked you too, still do,” she admitted, eyes drifting down to the floor.

He watched her shift her weight around uncomfortably and felt a pang in his chest. The face she wore was one of rejection, and that’s not what he had intended at all. “Aria,” he called, making her look back up at him. “I still like you too.”

He watched as her pale eyes widened, and his impulses caused him to reach out for her hand, holding it lightly in his own. “I don’t want to go back to pretending I don’t like you,” he told her. He gave her hand a light squeeze. “But I also don’t think we should rush into anything. You just got back after all.”

“We should get used to each other again,” she agreed, squeezing his hand back.

The way she was looking at him made his heart melt. He had been the one to suggest taking things slow, but she was already making that hard for him. Still, he restrained himself by smiling at her and suggesting, “We could start by hanging out like we used to. We’ll play games, and watch movies. Then maybe we could try going on a date soon?”

She smiled back eagerly and replied, “I’d like that.”

“Great,” he answered with a grin, releasing her hand and pinching her cheek. She let out a surprised yelp, causing him to laugh. “C’mon, let’s go grab my game station.”

“Oh, so you’re inviting yourself to stay over now, huh mister ‘we shouldn’t rush into things?’” She teased.

His face went red at her implications and he defended, “I just thought since we always played games here that we could bring it over.”

“Suuuuure, sure.” She grinned and pinched his cheek back playfully. “Alright, let’s go grab it. And you’re allowed to stay over by the way, you always used to.” She winked at him and sashayed her way out the front door.

His eyes followed her before his body could catch up. This girl was going to be the death of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so late! I ended up rewriting it because I wasn't happy with how it came out the first time. This version feels a lot better.


	11. Looking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian and Aria plan their first date

A muffled moan escaped Aria’s lips as Sebastian trailed kisses down to the nape of her neck. He pushed her down further into the sofa and gave her collar a gentle nibble. The gasp that came out of her encouraged him further, and he gave a harder bite, grinning at the sound that followed.

“Seb,” she whined quietly.

Suddenly his mouth was on hers and he was kissing her, desperately, as her fingers found their way into his hair. She gave a light tug and he grunted, pausing his assault on her lips to grab both of her wrists and hold them tightly down into the cushions. He dipped his head back down to her and-

_Ring ring._

__

__

_Ring ring._

 

Sebastian woke with a jolt at the sudden and blaring sound of his phone ringing just below his pillow. He let out the longest groan of his entire life. Who the fuck was calling him right now? He practically whipped the pillow off the couch so he could retrieve his phone and bitch out whoever was calling him at… He looked at the time.

_9 o’clock in the morning!?_

It was Abigail. Shit.

“What?” He answered, pure annoyance seeping from his voice.

Her cheerful tone came back from the other end, “Oooohhh, good morning to you too, cranky."

“What do you want? It’s nine o’fucking clock.” And he was having the best dream of his life. Not that he was about to tell her that.

“Well, you forgot to text me yesterday so I was starting to get impatient.” She paused to give him time to respond. When he didn’t she let out a sigh and clarified, “How did it go with Aria?”

The mention of night before made him suddenly very aware of his surroundings. There was light pouring into the room through a very sheer pair of curtains, and he squinted his eyes in it to adjust. This definitely was not his bedroom. He forced himself to sit up from his lying position and immediately regretted it. Every bone in his back screamed at him for the cruelties they had just been put through. He must have been getting old. He’d slept on this couch a hundred times in the past and never felt even a bit as sore as he did in that moment.

“Fine,” he replied curtly.

“ _Fine?_ That’s all you’ve got for me?”

He groaned again. The only way he was going to get out of this phone call and back to sleep was if he told her the truth. “It was good. We talked, and decided to take things slow.”

She hummed, seemingly satisfied by his response. “Well, you can thank me later. We’re getting together at Sam’s later for some Solarian Chronicles. You in? You can bring your girlfriiiieeeend,” she cooed.

“We’re not even dating yet,” he defended. “And I can’t today, sorry. I have to get home and work on this freelance project before it’s due. I haven’t even started yet.”

“You said yet,” she teased. He rolled his eyes at her response but couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Wait a minute,” she stated, cogs beginning to turn in her head. “If you’re not home, where are you?”

His eyes narrowed. He didn’t like where this was going. Still, he was honest with her this far. “I’m still at Ari’s.”

“WHAT!?” He quickly yanked the phone away from his ear at her sudden outburst. “I thought you said you were taking it slow!?”

“We are,” he assured her. “Honestly, we are. We were just playing games really late and I passed out.” He took notice of blanket that was draped over him that he was sure hadn’t been there the night before. It was thin but soft, stitching on the edges becoming frayed with its apparent age.

“Uh-huh, sure. Anyway, I’m glad you guys are finally together. I’ll let you get back to sleep. But don’t you worry, I’ll get the truth out of Aria,” she warned before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Only moments had passed before he hear a shriek from outside, “WHAT!? NO YOU’VE GOT IT ALL WRONG!”

He snorted at Aria’s cute reaction, and began to regret the enjoyment he had been getting out of his dream. They weren’t anywhere near that stage yet. He pulled himself off the couch and made his way towards the bathroom.

After he finished his morning pee and washed his hands, he headed back towards the front of the house, where he quietly opened the front door and stepped onto the porch. With spring nearing its close the temperature was beginning to rise, and he immediately got smacked in the face by a rush of hot air.

Aria stood just a few feet away from him, phone still pressed to her ear. She wore her work clothes: a beat up pair of jeans and an old worn out band tee. Her hair was pulled back out of her face and sweat was dripping down her brow. She was giving Abigail a lot of short “mhms” when she heard Sebastian step outside. She turned and regarded him with a smile on her face.

“Hey Abs, is it okay if I call you back later? Seb just woke up,” she explained. He quietly watched her as she said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.

“Morning Seb,” she greeted.

“Morning,” he answered back. They stared at each other for a few moments, grinning like idiots, before Sebastian cleared his throat and interrupted the silence. “Did you just finish up work?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I just took a break when I heard my phone ringing. I just finished harvesting the last of my spring crops,” she told him. “I still need to clear out some more space for my summer crops, then I need to take care of the chicken, and I think I’m gonna head down to the ocean later and do some fishing.”

The life of a farmer seemed really busy, he noted to himself. He was surprised she was able to keep up with all of it after doing office work for so long. It had to have been a strain on her small body. Still, she seemed to be handling it like a champ. He supposed she would have to if she wanted to make any money.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me, I have to go home and get some work done for a client,” he stated.

“Okay,” she replied with a smile. “I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah, course.” He smiled back and there was another long pause between them. The question of how they were supposed to say goodbye was hanging it both of their minds.

Sebastian was the one to answer by stepping closer to her and pulling her into a loose hug. She tensed up for only a brief moment before wrapping her arms around his middle and tightening their embrace. The grin on Sebastian’s face widened before he gave her a light pat on the head and forced himself to step away.

“Okay, I’m heading back.”

She nodded and gave a small wave. “See ya.”

***

Later that day, as Sebastian was typing away at his computer, he heard his phone go off. His hands hovered over the keyboard. He had made a really good amount of progress. He could take a break for just a minute. He picked up his phone and leaned back in his chair.

_Sam: Sup dude. I heard everything from Abs. So get this. Aria’s favorite band is gonna be playing at Zuzu Theater this weekend._

_Sebastian: So you’re both playing matchmaker now? Don’t you guys have anything else to do?_

_Sam: Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you guys should go. There’s still some tickets left._

Sebastian paused as he mulled the thought over in his head.

_Sebastian: I’ll check it out. Thanks dude._

__

__

_Sam: (^3^)~ <3_

__

__

Sebastian went back to his recent messages and texted Aria.

_Sebastian: Hey, I heard your favorite band is gonna be in Zuzu this weekend. You wanna go?_

__

__

_Aria: Omg yes! How are we gonna get there though?_

_Sebastian: The bike. I said I’d take you for a ride one day, remember?_

_Aria: AHHHH YES I’M SO EXCITED!!! <3_

Sebastian smiled to himself and hopped back onto his PC, tabbing out of his project for a minute so he could buy the tickets before they sold out. He navigated through a few purchasing options before finalizing the payment. All set. His first date with Aria was ready to go.

_First date._

__

__

With Aria.

…

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this one is late. Like months late. Life hits like a truck sometimes. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :)


	12. Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian and Aria go on their first date.  
> (Very small and short mention of violence/blood)

Aria gave herself a look in the mirror, something she had already done almost a thousand times that day. This was her first date with Sebastian, so she had gone all out and tried to make herself look as perfect as possible. She had opted to leave her long peach-colored hair down in loose waves, and paid close attention to her makeup. It wasn’t often she got to dress like this anymore, as farm work wasn’t very well-suited for her prefered style. She took this opportunity to do everything exactly how she liked it, and she was pretty pleased with the results.

Outside, she could hear a low rumbling sound slowly coming closer. That had to be Sebastian. She gave her reflection a nod for encouragement and made her way out of the house, stopping only to give Jiji a quick pet goodbye. Waiting for her outside was Sebastian, just as she had guessed. He wore his usual dark ensemble, though his face was hidden beneath a blue helmet. He began to lift it off of his head to greet her, dark hair falling free from beneath it. Finally, she could see his face, which wore an expression of shock.

Her heart began pounding as she wondered if she had already done something wrong. Was there something on her face? Did she leave the door open? Did she remember to wear pants? Her head whipped around to check all of these things, and to her relief, everything was as it should be. She brought her attention back to Sebastian and asked worriedly, “Is everything alright?”

He seemed to snap back to attention at her question before blurting, “Yeah, everything’s great. You look great.”

She stared back at him for a moment before she could feel a smile start to spread across her face. She snorted.

“Just get on the bike,” he instructed defensively, shoving another helmet towards her.

She took the helmet from him and held it above her head before replying, “You look good too Sebby, but you always do.” She slid the helmet on the rest of the way to hide any facial expression she might have made after saying that.

He seemed pleased with her response at least, as he immediately broke into a wide grin. He pulled his helmet back on and hopped back onto the bike. Aria followed suit and sat behind him, arms sliding around his waist for balance. He was so warm, even through the sweater he always wore. She smiled to herself and comfortably tightened her grip.

“Ready to go?” He asked, to which she responded with a simple nod.

He started the engine back up and they were on their way to the city. It wasn’t as long of a ride as the bus, and it was much more enjoyable as well. She had been nervous at first, but Sebastian drove carefully and seemed to have expert control. She was happily taking in the scenery before she knew it. The night air made early summer bearable, a cool and constant breeze constantly rushing past them. Ahead, she could begin to make out the shapes of the city she had left behind only a season ago. From this distance, she could understand why Sebastian had always romanticized it so much. The bright lights in the night sky were beautiful, and not something you saw in the valley.

She suddenly and dejectedly remembered Sebastian telling her he wanted to move out to the city by himself some day. The idea hadn’t bothered her as much before, but now that they were in the almost-dating-but-not-quite type of relationship they were in, the thought sent a sharp pang through her heart. She couldn’t help but wonder if he still wanted that, and if dating him would somehow stop him from chasing his dreams. As her head continued to fill with these dark thoughts, the bike began to pull to a stop without her noticing.

“Alright, here we are,” Sebastian stated, lifting his helmet up off his head. He noticed she hadn’t begun moving yet and tilted his head slightly. “Ari?”

Hearing her name snapped Aria back to reality, and she quickly removed her own helmet and got off the bike to join Sebastian at his side. He smiled at her and began walking ahead, but sentimentality caused her to reach out for him and grab his hand. The act startled him at first, though he adjust almost immediately and intertwined their fingers, lightly brushing his thumb across hers as they walked.

When they reached the entrance, they pulled apart so Sebastian could reach into his back pocket and present their tickets. Their hands found each other naturally again in a matter of moments, and they made their way inside. It was a pretty small venue, with only one level of seating (if you could call standing seating.) It was an open floor, with nothing in the room aside from a few cement pillars and the stage. The place was already packed, and the room buzzed with excitement as they waited on the opening act.

“This place is pretty small, huh?” Sebastian commented.

Aria nodded her head. “Yeah, it’s pretty popular for rock shows though.”

“Looks like it.”

The two chatted for a while before the lights finally began to dim and a wave of cheers and applause erupted from the crowd. Sebastian and Aria joined in, and the first band made there way on stage. They both hung around the back of the venue, tapping their feet and nodding along to the music while the opening acts played. Neither of them was familiar with any of the opening bands, but they were both pleasantly surprised with all of them.

Finally, the last opening act exited the stage, and it was time for the main act. Aria’s excitement was beginning to pick up, and she let out a loud cheer as all of the members filed on stage. The rest of the audience cheered and screamed as well, pushing to the front of the room and packing in as close to the stage as they could manage. The band welcomed everyone and introduced themselves, thanking everyone for coming out to see them. There was another wave of cheers and applause before the drummer smacked their sticks together a few times and the band began to play their first song of the night.

Aria had been listening to this band for a really long time, but this was her first time ever seeing them perform live. They were even better than she had imagined. She looked up at Sebastian and gave a huge and excited grin. He smiled back and gave her hand a light squeeze.

The first few songs were pretty tame, but as the night went on and the crowd became more excited, people began screaming along to the words and jumping up and down. Aria stood on her tiptoes, trying to see the band over the jumping crowd. It wasn’t often she took issue with her height, but this was one of those times. Since the venue only had one level, it was almost impossible for someone of her height to see over anyone in the back.

Sebastian took notice of her struggling and gave her hand a light tug. He pulled her close behind him and began slithering his way through the crowd and closer to the front. Aria gave out quiet “excuse mes” as the went. When Sebastian was satisfied with their location he stopped, and encouraged her to look by gently tugging on her hand again. She moved out only slightly from behind him, as the pit was just in front of them. Within the circle of people were both men and women, dancing like their lives depended on it in a strange display of stomping and wild arm movements. Just above them was the stage, where Aria could once again see her favorite band. Her smile widened once again as she too began to sing along to all of her favorite songs.

It was a great location to watch the band while it lasted, but it didn’t take long before Sebastian was having to start pushing people back into the pit that came too close for comfort. It was all in the fun and excitement of the show, that is until an elbow came flying into his face. His hand was immediately yanked from hers as he cupped his face in his hands from sudden and unexpected pain. They hadn’t even seen who did it, as everyone in the pit continued on without concern, shoving each other and throwing limbs around in every direction.

Aria quickly pulled Sebastian back towards the back of the crowd, before gently removing his hands from his face. His cheek was puffed up, and a bit of blood was trickling out of his right nostril. “Sebastian, you’re bleeding!”

“It’s fine,” he assured her. He took his hand back from her to cover his face again. “I’m just gonna go clean up in the bathroom real quick. You wait here.”

“But-”

“I’ll be right back.”

He wouldn’t listen to anything else she had to say, and turned around to go look for the men’s room. Aria watched him go anxiously, hoping it was just a bad bump and not a broken nose. She hadn’t really gotten a good look in the dim lighting. Her worries were put at ease though, as he came back to her side only minutes later, looking almost as good as new, aside from the light bruising that was already beginning to appear.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal.” His attention immediately turned back to the stage. He could see perfectly fine from their location, but he was sure Aria couldn’t see at all. “Come here,” he said decidedly. As he said it, he knelt down on the floor and tapped his shoulders, encouraging her to jump up.

“Seb, I think I’m a little too heavy to sit on your shoulders,” she answered, doubt in her voice.

“Oh come on, give me some credit.”

“Okay, if you say so…”

Aria did as she was asked and walked behind him, slinging one leg over his shoulders at a time. He held on to her knees and stood slowly and carefully. To her surprise they made it all the way up to standing position, with Sebastian not seeming to have much trouble at all.

“Not bad for a basement dweller,” she teased.

“Yeah yeah, watch your show,” he retorted with a grin.

They stayed like that for a while, Aria carefully perched on Sebastian’s shoulder’s, watching the show with the best view in the house. It paid to have such a tall almost-boyfriend. She sang along with all of the songs and smiled from ear to ear the whole night. As the band began nearing the end of their set-list, Aria leaned forward to yell over the music to Sebastian, “Are you ready to get going?”

He looked up at her in what seemed like annoyance. “Ari, I told you you don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine, really, it was just a bump.”

She shook her head, “That’s not it, I was just hoping to hit the merch table and get out of here before everyone starts leaving at once.”

Satisfied with her reasoning, Sebastian let her down and they walked towards the merch table together. Sebastian bought them each a shirt, after an embarrassing argument about who would pay in front of the seller, and they left the venue, hand in hand once more. The ride home felt a bit longer than the ride there, but they made it back that same night nonetheless. 

The two of them hopped off the bike when they arrived and moved to say their farewells. This time the movements came much more naturally, and Aria was wrapping her arms around Sebastian’s middle almost as soon as they’d gotten off the bike. His arms found their way around her just as easily, and they stayed wrapped together for a comfortable and quiet moment. They began separating, but neither let go of each other completely. Aria’s heart was pounding in her ears as she nervously lifted her eyes to look at Sebastian. To her surprise however, he wasn’t looking at her, but at her house behind her. His eyes were narrowed in caution and confusion.

“You didn’t leave the lights on, did you?” He asked in a hushed and measured tone.

The pounding of Aria’s heart almost completely ceased to a halt in an instant. No, she hadn't. She was positive of it. She may have been doing better with farm work recently than she had been before, but she was still struggling with money a bit and tried to save money wherever she could. Part of that included always, _always_ turning all of the lights off when she wasn’t using them, _especially_ when she wasn’t home.

“No,” finally came her reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again from the long break it's been since I last updated. As I'm sure most of you who have read this far have probably assumed, updates are slowing down. That's not to say they're going to stop or that I've given up on this by any means. I do really want to finish this, as I greatly enjoy the world and its characters. I can't promise how often I'll be updating, however I fill finish it at some point. For everything else that I have planned, I think we're about 3/4 of the way through now.
> 
> With all of that said, thank you so much to everyone who's read this far, and I hope you enjoy it and continue to read it as I update. Also a big huge thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments! These really do help me want to keep going on this, so thanks! You're all a huge help!<3


	13. Treasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria gets a surprise visitor, and Sebastian gets some surprise news.

“Stay behind me,” Sebastian instructed, taking a single step toward the farm house before immediately being yanked back.

“Are you nuts!?” Aria demanded in a hushed but sharp whisper. “We should just call the police. What are you gonna do if they have a weapon?” To answer her question, Sebastian reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. “Absolutely not,” she hissed.

“Look, we don’t even know if we might have accidentally left the lights on. Besides, all the way out here it’s gonna take the cops forever to show up. They’ll steal everything you own by then.”

“Well they chose the wrong house, I don’t have anything worth stealing,” she remarked.

Sebastian resisted the urge to scold her about her poor timing for jokes and took another step toward the house. “So anyway like I said, stay behind me.”

Aria kept her eyes locked with his for a long moment before finally giving a reluctant nod. He nodded back and the two began their cautious approach to the doorstep. Sebastian gave Aria one last glance to boost his confidence before placing his hand on the doorknob. Sure he was talking a big game, but he was scared as hell. What if someone really was in there? A pocket knife wouldn’t do him any good if they had a gun. He shook his head. There wasn’t going to be anyone in there, he was sure of it. And even if there was, who the hell even owned a gun in Stardew Valley? Okay, maybe there was Kent, but he didn’t count. He was just paranoid after coming back from the army, not that Sebastian was blaming him.

He shook his head again, clearing his thoughts and taking in a slow breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. He twisted the knob and slowly pushed the door open, praying it wouldn’t make a sound.

_CREEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAK._

__

__

_Shit shit shit!_

On the other side of the door, sitting on the couch was a man he had never seen before. He immediately raised the knife and moved to jolt forward, but once again was immediately yanked back by Aria.

“You fucking idiot,” she snapped.

Sebastian shot a look back at her, “Me? You’re the one who just-”

“ _Not_ you,” she said as she stormed past him.

The man stood from the couch, a stupid smile plastered on his face. “Hey Ari, how you bee- OW!” The man yelled out in pain after being whacked in the head by the small farmer. Sebastian flinched.

“You really must be stupid to just go sneaking into people’s houses unannounced. You got a death wish or something?” Aria’s tone continued to carry an edge, though her actions made it clear that she knew this person from somewhere.

“It’s not like I snuck in. I tried calling you, and I have a key.” He waved his key around in the air for her to see it.

“Whatever, the point is you should have at least told me you were coming over, _stupid_.”

“I just told you I tried, but you didn’t answer.”

“Normal people would usually wait then, not invite themselves in.”

Sebastian was completely lost. Who was this guy, and why did he have a key to Aria’s house? “Guys?” He tried interjecting.

The bickering continued, “It was a long ride here, I wasn’t just gonna wait outside for you to get back.”

“Guys?”

“You should have waited at home before driving all the way out here!” Aria shot back.

“GUYS!” Sebastian practically shouted it that time. He had lost his patience and he needed to know who the hell this guy was that just invited himself into Aria’s house. The two stopped fighting and looked at him, so he let out a sigh and turned to Aria. “What’s going on, who is this guy?”

Aria stared at him for a moment before realization fell over her face and the tension started to leave her body. “Oh, right. Sorry,” she replied. “Sebastian, this is my _idiot_ brother Luca.” She made an annoyed face as she pointed her thumb back towards him.

“Your brother?” Sebastian’s brow furrowed as he looked over Luca. He was lean and a bit taller than Sebastian, with dark hair and striking blue eyes that mirrored his sister’s. They had similar facial structures, and if Sebastian didn’t know any better he might think they were twins. “Like the one that used to visit with you during the summer?”

Aria nodded. “Yep, that’s Luca.”

Sebastian vaguely remembered hearing about him before, and even more vaguely remembered seeing him around the farm as a child. He had never hung around with Aria when they came to visit, so he had no real memory of him. They only thing he [i]could[/i] remember about the guy was how Aria used to whine about what a jerk he was. The two had apparently not gotten along very well as kids.

Luca stood from his spot on the couch and reached his hand out toward Sebastian. He held a polite smile as he introduced himself, “Nice to meet you…?” He posed it in the form of a question, presumably not recognizing the other man. Sebastian couldn’t blame him. It had been probably ten years since he remembered ever even seeing Luca.

Sebastian took his hand and gave it a light shake. “Sebastian,” he introduced.

At that, Luca’s smile noticeably began to waver. “Sebastian…? As in…?” He looked to Aria for confirmation, whose face quickly became one of panic.

“Everything is fine now,” she blurted. “We talked everything out and,” she paused to walk over to Sebastian and take his hand, holding it up for Luca to see. “We’re dating now.”

_Wait what?_

Sebastian’s attention snapped over to Aria who gave him a sheepish smile. He felt a flutter go through his chest, but quickly glanced back over to Luca when he could still feel a cold and suspicious stare weighing down on him.

“Dating, huh?” Luca asked.

Sebastian nodded nervously in response. An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the room before a notification on Sebastian’s phone went off. By the sound, he knew it was his work email. He reached into his pocket and gave an awkward hand motion to apologize. “Sorry, work email. It’s a bit of a rush job.”

With that he quickly excused himself from the room, heading to Aria’s bedroom to take a look at the email in peace. He let out a sigh of relief once the door was shut behind him.

_What a weird guy._

He opened his email and gave it a quick skim. His shoulders tensed and his body froze up. His mouth was agape as he carefully read through it a second time. It was a job offer. A full time position. In Zuzu city. His fingers rushed to hit the reply button and type out a response before he froze again.

_Aria._

He thought back to their conversation only moments prior.

_Dating._

She had told her brother they were dating. It wasn’t entirely true, but it wasn’t a lie either. Their relationship was complicated but… he couldn’t deny his feelings for her. He had been in love with her for years, and he was sure she knew it. If he took this position…

_What’s gonna happen to us?_

He started at the message for what felt like an eternity. His mind had gone completely blank.

Suddenly he heard the door creak open and his head snapped around to look. Aria poked her head in. “Hey Seb, I’m gonna start making dinner. You’re staying, right?” The way her eyes sparkled and the smile she gave him melted his heart, and broke it at the same time.

He realized he was still holding his phone out and gaping and he quickly shut it and nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that,” he replied.

The edge in his tone must have clued her off, because Aria’s smile dropped and the sparkle in her eyes was replaced by a look of concern. “Is everything alright?” She asked anxiously.

He gave another nod and slid his phone into his back pocket. “Yeah, everything’s fine,” he lied.

She watched him, not completely buying it, but nodded and stepped back out into the living room. He let out a sigh before following her into the kitchen to help with whatever he could manage. He might not have been the best cook, but he was sure he could at least help chop something if she needed it. She accepted his help gladly, and the two moved about the kitchen in silence. And Sebastian’s silence continued the rest of the night. While the two siblings caught up and laughed, Aria telling Luca all about the farm and the town, Sebastian kept to himself, staying locked up inside his head.

Finally, when it started to get late into the night, Aria let out a long yawn. “Alright, I think I need to head to bed,” she announced. Sebastian took that as his queue to leave and stood, but Aria quickly continued, “Seb, it’s getting pretty late, why don’t you stay?”

He was going to object, but the concerned look in her eyes remained, and so he didn’t. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Luca, the couch pulls out into a bed, and there’s extra blankets and stuff in the hall closet.”

Luca smiled and stood up to start getting ready for bed as well. “Alright, thanks,” he replied.

“Night,” she told him with a smile, and made her way towards her bedroom. Sebastian followed silently behind. 

She closed the door behind the two of them and Sebastian started moving a few things around to make himself some room on the floor. He heard Aria snort, making him look up at her in confusion. “What?”

She was trying to hide the amused grin on her face. “We’re not 12, Seb,” she commented smugly.

He could feel his ears warm at her accusation. “I know that, I just didn’t want to assume-”

“Just get into bed.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  
He did as he was told and awkwardly crawled into her bed. Aria went to the bathroom to get changed and ready for bed, leaving him to get comfortable. Her bed was soft and warm, and the thin blankets smelled freshly washed and clean. He had already begun drifting off to sleep when he felt her crawl into bed next to him, causing him to jolt awake.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up,” she apologized quietly.

He shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Silence fell over them again. He could feel the warmth coming off of her body only inches away from his. “Hey Seb?”

“Hm?”

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

He turned his head to look at her, lying on his back. She looked at him with so much care and concern, it sent a wave of emotion through him. “I know, I will,” he promised. He reached his hand out and carefully pushed back a stray hair out of her face. She leaned into his hand lovingly, sending another wave through him. “For now though, let’s just get some rest. It can wait until tomorrow.”

She seemed to accept his answer, as she hummed in response and her eyes started to flutter closed. He watched her drift off to sleep and continued gently stroking her hair, not wanting to wake her. When her breath became slow and even, and he was sure she had fallen asleep, he leaned in closer and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

_I love this girl so much._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to the chapter we've all been waiting for! Just another one or two before we get there. Thank you all so much to everyone who has read this far and left comments and kudos. Those give me life!


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